Vessel of the Queen
by ShadowQueenPeach
Summary: When the Shadow Queen's palace gets an unexpected visitor, she forms an uneasy alliance to take it back. Rated T because the story got a bit darker than I expected (pun not intended).
1. Reunited With Her Vessel

A/N: I do not own Mario or any of the characters.

First fic! Please leave reviews, and any feedback would be appreciated. I'll continue this if enough people like the concept. Apologies in advance if my writing sucks because I'm not a writer, but a math major pretending to be one.

* * *

In the lowest room of the Palace of Shadow, months after the defeat of the Shadow Queen, a strange voice echoed off the walls. Its strange maniacal quality clashed with the room's grimness.

"This palace is Fawful's for the taking! Controlling the army had easiness like the taking of the army that was Bowser's! And next comes the Mushroom Kingdom, the home of the pair of Red and Green that I hate!"

Fawful was slightly unprepared for the shadowy form that rose from the coffin.

 ** _"Who has disturbed my sleep?"_** the Shadow Queen boomed in a horrifying, feminine voice.

"I have shock! This is a situation Fawful had not expected!"

 ** _"What is this nonsense you speak?"_**

"This is the palace of Fawful! And Fawful is not liking you! You are like the annoying worm that appears in the apple of Fawful's desires! You will be having the leaving!"

 ** _"This is_ MY _palace. You will serve me, or perish."_**

Fawful simply shrugged, and fired the ray gun in his hand. A stream of stars hit the Queen directly in the face. "Fawful is not interested in doing the serving. Fawful is ruling the world!"

 ** _"AAAAAAAAIIYEEEEEEEEE!"_** she screamed as an intense pain shot all throughout her. She didn't wait for the second blast, and fled through the wall of the palace.

 ** _"Ugh… I forget how weak my defeat has made me. I had hoped to recover for a little longer…fortunately those foolish beings opened the palace door…"_** the Queen thought to herself as she flew away from the place she called home. ** _"What was it he said? The Mushroom Kingdom?"_**

* * *

In the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach paced around in her room for perhaps the thousandth time. Her room had everything a royal room was expected to have in it: a closet, a dresser, several books, and the like, but nothing that could keep a princess entertained for days on end while a surly-looking Toad watched her like a hawk.

"Toadsworth, when will Mario come back from the Beanbean Kingdom?"

"Princess, that is the twenty-fifth time you have asked that. It will be about nine days. Mm, maybe you should find something else to do with your time."

Peach sighed. "What do you suggest, Toadsworth?"

"…Perhaps look through a couple of the older rooms of this castle?" _That keeps her inside the castle. In the meantime, the outside will stay heavily patrolled, of course. We can't risk the Princess's safety with Mario away,_ Toadsworth thought.

"Why does Toadsworth insist on keeping me stuck inside this castle? Oh, at least here he won't be watching _everything_ I do." Peach left for the opposite side of the castle.

* * *

 _I almost wish_ something _interesting would happen_. _But that would probably end with the castle being carried away, or turned into a robot, or something terrible like that. Hmm, haven't seen this before,_ she thought as she spotted an old diary in the corner.

As she reached the diary, a cloud of darkness moved into the room and she saw the Shadow Queen appear, blocking the door.

The princess screamed loudly, but no one could hear her; she had closed the door and she chose a hallway few attendants ever frequented, to escape Toadsworth's watchful eye.

"Get…away from me…" _She's here to possess me and try to kill Mario again…_

Peach braced herself for the dreadful hands falling onto her body, but they never came.

 ** _"I am not here to harm you."_**

"Why ARE you here?"

 ** _"A strange being has taken my castle and is controlling my army."_**

"Who…who would that be?"

 ** _"A short, green foolish being calling himself Fawful. He spoke of conquering your kingdom next."_**

"Oh, dear… l-last time he was here he turned my castle into a giant robot," Peach stammered, trying to hold back her fear.

 ** _"GRRRRRRRRRRRR! He's not doing that to_ my _castle, the little brat!"_**

"I need to do something, but… I can't stop Fawful by myself!" Rage temporarily overtook the fear as Peach remembered the damage Fawful had done to her castle on his last visit.

 ** _"I am here to offer you a proposal. You are a very comfortable vessel. My defeat has weakened me, but remember what I was able to do with you fighting my influence? If you instead add your power to mine, imagine our might. We can defeat this fool together."_**

"I don't know if I trust you."

 ** _"I may have been cruel, but have you known me to lie?"_**

"I suppose that IS true… Fine… come here." she huffed.

 ** _"Yesssssss..."_**

Two large hands descended and grabbed the princess. They then disappeared, leaving her in a dark purple dress with a grey corset, a cape, and a long collar rising above her head and ending in spikes. Her usual falling blond hair was cut short and her eyes burned blood red, devoid of any trace of the kindness they showed before. Topping it all off, a shadowy aura of pure evil enveloped the princess.

Peach felt the light leave her body as the Queen's darkness took it over. The light left the room as well, and the candles in the room flickered out and lit up again with black flames.

 _So Fawful's back… I guess Mario was wrong about him killing himself inside Bowser's gut. He must have survived that somehow. I wonder what he's doing this time,_ Peach thought.

 ** _He looks like the type of person who concocts elaborate plans before he acts,_** a voice spoke inside her mind.

 _Great…we can read each other's thoughts now._

 ** _Yes, I have been weakened enough that I cannot prevent you from reading my thoughts. You can even wrest control of your body from me._**

 _That would be nice. If we're going to defeat Fawful, there's someone we need to pick up first._

* * *

After flying out of one of the windows, Peach glided down towards the Mario Bros. house. As usual, it was a tranquil and ordinary place, one Mario and Luigi could relax in when they weren't off saving the kingdom.

 _Wheeeeeeee!_

 ** _Do you mind concentrating on giving me directions?_**

 _I didn't think flying was this fun! I wish I had time right now to enjoy it, let alone be the one actually in control of my body. Turn left here. All right, we're here. This is Mario's brother._

 ** _Who?_**

 _Mario, the one who defeated you._

 ** _…_**

 _You're not laying a hand on him. I can read your thoughts._

Luigi was a fairly happy man, as long as there were no scary monsters taking over the kingdom. He was hanging clothes outside the house when he heard the sweet sound of the princess's voice.

"Luigi! Fawful's taken the Shadow Queen's castle, and he's after the Mushroom Kingdom next!"

"Princess, I would…GAAAAAAH!"

Luigi turned to see the Princess's sweet smile and was instead met by a cruel grin and blood red eyes glaring at him. He ran in the other direction, screaming the loudest scream any Toad had ever heard, or would have, if they had been closer to the Mario Bros. house.

 ** _"Are you_ sure _you're related to Mario?"_** The Queen rolled her eyes. ** _"Why couldn't you have come instead of that pesky plumber? Then I could easily have conquered the world."_**

 ** _"Come back!"_** the Queen yelled as hands appeared from the shadows to grab Luigi's ankles, tripping him.

 _You're not much for persuasion, are you?_

 ** _I think this is faster._**

"Luigi?" Peach summoned up her most reassuring voice, for all the good it did.

"Heeeeeelp!"

"Luigi, I need your help to stop Fawful. Will you come with me?"

Luigi lay there, shuddering.

 ** _Maybe this will help._** Peach's dress reverted back to pink, with the cape and collar now gone.

"Princess?"

"Luigi. I can explain. The Shadow Queen is inside me, and she's going to help us beat Fawful."

"Inside you? The one Mario told me about, who covered the world in darkness? She gives me the creeps…"

"Please, Luigi?"

"Well, Mario's gone, so it's just-a me, Luigi… Here I go… (gulp) Promise she won't try to kill me?"

 _…_

 ** _Fine._**

"Promise."

 ** _*sigh* How is this fool supposed to help us?_**

 _He might be a coward, but he's just as strong as Mario._

 ** _If you say so…_**

Peach's dress darkened, the cape and collar now back again. The duo left Toad Town and began their journey.


	2. It All Begins

Thanks for reviewing! I'll try my best not to disappoint everyone. Updates might not come for at least a week because of exams, homework, projects and such. Please continue to leave reviews and feedback.

* * *

Somewhere in the Beanbean Kingdom, Mario wished he had kept his mouth shut about his earlier adventures. Queen Bean knew, obviously, on paper, that Little Fungitown and Oho Oasis existed, but spent most of her time sitting in that boring old chair in the palace. His tales included exaggerated claims of the dangers of land sharks, large torch-wielding Koopas, and gloppy blue monsters that duplicated themselves. Unfortunately for Mario, he was a little bit too good at storytelling. When Mario rambled on about a mushroom city in the mountains and a frozen palace, Queen Bean decided to finally see for herself what lay outside the kingdom. Only two people could make her feel safe, the ones who previously defeated the monsters. As such, Mario was stuck with this escort job, while Luigi stayed behind to ensure nothing went wrong back home. The group would first travel to Little Fungitown, assuming Queen Bean didn't break the elevator. It reminded him of that time he escorted the princess through Teehee Valley, when the Goombas would kidnap her; only this time, kidnapping was definitely out of the question.

Mario swung his hammer at another Spiky Snifit, dodging the spiked ball it shot. They were almost to the elevator. "Oh ho ho ho ho!" the gigantic Bean's voice rang through the air. Mario winced. It was amazing, sometimes, what had to be done in the name of diplomacy. He hoped Peach and Luigi were all right.

The queen was the first to take the elevator. Astonishingly, it ascended with the same speed as if Mario and Luigi were on it.

 _I guess I have to give them credit. That's amazing,_ Mario mused.

Next on the elevator were Mario, Lady Lima, and a couple of Beanish guards.

Two Toads greeted the group coming off the elevator. "Welcome! Welcome to Little Fungitown! Please allow us to show you around!"

Queen Bean was lost in thought. _How does this place stay standing?_ The mushrooms the city stood on looked ready to fall at any moment. It was quite a departure from Beanbean architecture, where everything stood standing even after several rounds of Cackletta's bombardment. _If we built our kingdom like this, everyone would have died after the first round of bombs._

Mario prepared himself for several hours of boredom.

* * *

Fawful sat on the throne in the Palace of Shadow, with a remote in his hand and an odd-looking machine in the center of the room.

"COME! MIDBUS!" he yelled with excitement.

An enormous, pig-like creature stumbled into the room, grateful that whoever constructed the palace did so with oversized doors.

"Lord Fawful… No need to explain. You, explain. I have headache."

"Fawful knows…that Midbus is not understanding the genius that is Fawful's. It gives him dizziness like a chicken that does not know where it is going. But Midbus! With this, Fawful is ruling the world with the easiness of a bread sandwich!"

"Is there need of fighting?"

"No, Fawful has not the fury right now."

Midbus left the room. _I am here to fight. Lord Fawful knows that. He should bother someone else with his fancy weapons._

"I have chortles!" Fawful declared to himself. He saw this as similar to his conquering of Bowser's castle, except this palace was much creepier, and his new army consisted of Dry Bones, Dark Wizzerds, Phantom Embers, and the like. Whatever. He would make it work.

* * *

On the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi felt as if something or someone was punishing him for every time he complained about having to rescue the princess. His own voice rang through his head. _I wish Peach could defend herself in some way besides screaming,_ he once said. His wish came true. Peach embodied his worst nightmare, and he was stuck with her. _Fortunately,_ he thought, _she isn't paying much attention to me right now._

The princess and the Queen conversed as they walked.

 ** _Tell me more about this Fawful._**

 _Let's see…he likes building robots, hates Mario and Luigi, and usually has an army and a plan._

 ** _What is a robot?_**

 _Well, it moves around and is made of metal. It isn't alive, and it's usually powered by electricity. Hey, where exactly are we going?_

 ** _…You wouldn't happen to know if the Dark Star was moved anywhere, would you?_**

 _Oh, that! Fawful stole it, but Mario, Luigi, and Bowser worked together to destroy it. It exploded spectacularly over my castle not too long ago._

 ** _Then we will retrieve it._**

 _Didn't you hear me? I said it blew up!_

 ** _Did you really think it is that simple to destroy? If so, the Star Sprites would have done so long ago. I created the Dark Star, and when it explodes, it reforms in Twilight Town, the place I created it._**

 _I'm not sure whether I want you to have the Dark Star. That's a terrifying thought._

 ** _You can take your chances with Fawful._**

 _What's up with all these artifacts? The Dark Star, the Star Rod, the Beanstar… can't anyone have made a powerful object that's_ not _a star? These people aren't very original._

 ** _I know of the Dark Star. What are the others?_**

 _Well, the Star Rod… you know what? I might have said too much already._

 ** _If you must refuse to inform me, perhaps instead you can convince your friend to come closer._**

Peach giggled. "Oh, Luigi, you can follow me a little closer than that."

Luigi shuddered. He kept about forty steps of distance between himself and the princess.

Peach's eyes glowed a bright red as she struck a charging Koopa with a thunderbolt, leaving him dazed.

Luigi increased that distance to fifty steps.

The princess sighed. She disappeared in a cloud of darkness and reappeared next to Luigi, who turned to find the princess glaring down at him with a murderous look.

 ** _"I would simply have informed you that Twilight Town is our destination, but I would prefer not to shout."_**

Luigi ran screaming, apparently having no interest in processing the information.

 ** _What? That glare should be second nature for an evil princess._**

 _I don't happen to_ be _an evil princess,_ Peach shot back as she followed Luigi.

 ** _Should I inform him he is traveling in the wrong direction?_**

"Luigi! Twilight Town is _that_ way!"

* * *

Word spread about Queen Bean's intention of visiting various places outside the Beanbean Kingdom, with Mario accompanying her. Everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone. A little girl named Jojora sulked in the frozen palace known as Joke's End. Mario and whoever that other guy was, they were _so_ rude the last time they came! All her friend wanted to do was play, and they _melted_ her! She wanted to freeze them both solid for how mean they were. "He _dares_ to come back? That jerk!"

She broke into a grin.

"Oholina! Hoohoolia! Teeheena! It's… playtime…"

Three giant girls with snowball bodies and muscled arms dropped from the floor above Jojora as she flew across the room.

"Gah hah HAHHH!" one of the girls laughed. "Playtime with who?"

" _Mario_."

"We'll take good care of him," they replied in unison.

* * *

Meanwhile, Toadsworth began his search for Peach. Unlike the princess, he knew every room and hallway of the castle inside and out; to escape his watch one would probably have to fly out of a window, which is, of course, exactly what happened.

"But…that's the last room…" Toadsworth thought aloud. "Oh dear... maybe she moved while I was searching…"

 _That princess is_ so _badly behaved! She probably snuck out of the castle the minute I let her out of my sight. But she never left through the front door… maybe I'm simply paranoid. I'll check the rooms again._

"Are you _sure_ you saw no one?" he yelled again to the Toads guarding the entrance.

"We're sure! Oh! I think I saw something flying out of that window a while ago! Peach might be in there, throwing things out!"

 _Out the window. Gliding down with that parasol._ Toadsworth gave himself a good slap in the face for not seeing it coming.

"Search the kingdom!" Toadsworth screamed while imagining a thousand possible kidnapping scenarios.


	3. Calm Before the Storm

A/N: Enjoy this chapter!

* * *

In Twilight Town, the moon hung in the same place it always did. The sun never broke through the dark sky, earning the town its name.

Ever since the Dark Star reformed in Twilight House, the town's residents knew they had to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. When the Shadow Queen created the Star here, it seemed her darkness was so strong that even after her defeat, the sun had yet to shine here for the last one thousand years.

The townspeople took turns keeping watch for anyone attempting to sneak in. Six guards were on their way to Twilight House to relieve the previous six of their duties for the night.

"I can't believe we got the late shift again. Who cares about the Dark Star? Let someone take it and cover the world in darkness. Would it even matter to us?"

"Not this again… The world would be under that person's rule, and that includes us. There's no telling what they would do to us."

Popple listened from between two nearby buildings. After Mario and Luigi defeated him at Pi'illo Island, he wandered around looking for places where things were easy to steal. Popple had dreams of being rich through his thieving skills, which, he believed, he could have done if those two mustached guys hadn't foiled every one of his attempts to steal the Beanstar or one of its pieces. Twilight Town suited Popple well: its citizens left in shifts, leaving some homes unoccupied at literally every moment, and the lack of daylight meant every robbery could be committed under cover of darkness. The reason the citizens left their homes, though, never bothered Popple much. Not until now.

Popple turned to Gus, a former member of the Robbo Gang on the east side of Rogueport.

"Shh! You hear that, Rookie? We steal that thing, and someone's gonna want it! We can sell it, and we'll get rich, see?"

Gus nodded. After joining Popple, he became much richer than when he and the rest of the gang constantly beat people up and fought members of the Pianta Syndicate; most of those fights ended up with both groups leaving empty-handed. Now everything was so easy. When the residents of Twilight Town noticed several of their items went missing, they never suspected it was the work of two thieves.

Gus didn't think they would really rule the world, but whatever it was these people were guarding, it had to be valuable if they made such a big deal out of it.

* * *

Jojora, having set her trap, lay in wait for Mario.

"More tea, Hoohoolia?"

"Yes, please."

"And Mommy is going to push the stroller this time!" Jojora exclaimed, pushing a doll around the table.

"The baby's crying!" Teeheena held up the doll in the stroller.

Jojora raised her wand. Doll-sized houses made of ice sprang up from the table.

"Mommy's taking a walk through the neighborhood!"

An enormous teapot lay near the entrance to the palace.

* * *

Bowser's minions in the area had given up on kidnapping Peach. Sure, the first few Goombas and Koopas saw Peach wandering outside, with Luigi looking too far away to do anything. They learned the hard way that Peach's new outfit wasn't just for show. Now their walk was relatively uneventful.

The Queen decided they should move a bit faster, and summoned a shadowy hand to grab Luigi. She flew towards their destination with the hand following close behind.

As they reached Twilight Town, the hand set Luigi on the ground and unfolded.

"Peach? What exactly are we doing here?"

"Taking the Dark Star."

Luigi looked confused. "The Dark Star? Me and my bro, we beat it! It blew up!"

"According to the Queen, it reformed here."

The color drained from Luigi's face. Fawful with the Dark Star was bad enough. But Peach, with her creepy new friend?

"S-S-Shadow Queen? Are you OK with being called Peach?"

 ** _How about Shadow Peach?_**

 _Shadow Peach! I like it._

"She says, just call us Shadow Peach."

"Shadow Peach…I really, really don't think we should get the Dark Star…"

 ** _"Why is that?"_** She glared at him again.

Luigi decided to accept his fate and cowered behind a nearby building.

He could swear he heard the Queen giggle.

* * *

Mario thought Queen Bean would never finish exploring the town. The only possible danger he could think of was someone eating an Invincishroom, so he did a quick run to the arcade to ensure those weren't being given out. Then he patiently waited for the tour to be over.

The group finally came. "So we are going to Joke's End next?"

Mario wasn't planning for that. "We need a boat to get there, and it isn't very interesting, anyways. It's just a palace made of ice."

Lady Lima looked puzzled. "If you don't mind me asking, Mario, where did you acquire a boat when you visited?"

"Oh! I used Luigi as a surfboard."

Mario's answer did nothing to reduce her confusion.

"A frozen palace? I had no idea such a thing existed!" Queen Bean could barely contain her excitement. A big grin covered her face.

As the group headed back to the elevator, Mario wished everyone knew how to use the warp pipes. That would speed things up dramatically.

So everyone left Little Fungitown, braved their way through Teehee Valley again, and boarded a boat headed for Joke's End.

Mario remembered his time in the palace. Yes, he lived near Princess Peach, so he knew a thing or two about boring tea parties. But that was something else. That time, the hosts literally tried to murder him.

 _Thankfully, Luigi and I defeated them. The palace should be safe,_ he thought.

He couldn't be more wrong.

* * *

Fawful's new minions in the Palace of Shadow quickly adjusted to the new rules of the house. For example, Fawful didn't want to be distracted while working. Fawful didn't like anyone laughing at his funny way of speaking. Fawful expected to hear applause when he gave a big show.

However, in this situation one particular Dry Bones felt particularly justified in disturbing his new leader.

"Lord Fawful! The princess has been spotted in Twilight Town. The one you spoke about conquering the kingdom of, sir."

"The silly princess? The idiot of foolishness that is always getting captured by the king of stupid? Fawful laughs at that."

"She can shoot lightning from her hands, sir."

"That is strangeness… Be finding out what is happening!"

The Dry Bones left the room to gather a group to investigate. After gathering an assortment of about forty of the castle's troops, he set out.

* * *

Popple needed a plan. These petty burglaries he and Gus did daily, these he could do for the next ten years and still go unnoticed by the dim-witted residents of Twilight Town. But this was special. This kind of a job needed a super thief! If he could pull this off, he'd be rich!

Popple decided he could easily follow the next group to whatever they were going, since the forest provided plenty of cover. From there, he could see exactly what it was he had to do.

That seemed like a good plan. And perfect timing, too! Six residents walked down the road, right on schedule.

"Rookie! Follow me!"

* * *

 ** _If my powers were fully restored, we could simply fly over and claim the Star. I am still weakened, though you are the perfect vessel for me to corrupt. Pure-hearted, powerful, and quite beautiful, too…_**

 _Um… thanks?_

 ** _Twilight House is through that forest._**

 _Do you know exactly where we're going?_

 ** _…No. Spending a thousand years in a tomb may have caused me to forget._**

 _So we're going to be wandering around in the woods?_

 ** _Or we can follow those six._**

 _Fair enough._

"Luigi, come on!"

* * *

Toadsworth felt like a failure. The only information he had didn't seem reliable at all; according to one eyewitness, Peach left town with Luigi, leaving a trail of darkness behind her. So Peach, if that even was Peach, was missing yet again.

He decided to finally admit his failure.

"Send word to Mario. The princess is missing." The words took some effort to force out of his mouth.

A Toad relayed the message to the Beanbean Kingdom, which sent messengers on a ship to Joke's End to deliver the news.

They failed to overtake Queen Bean's ship before it reached its destination.


	4. Super Brilliant Thieving Duo

A/N: I like where the story is going. I hope you do too.

* * *

After navigating around a couple of whirlpools, everyone was finally there. A long staircase awaited them.

"That's what it looks like." Mario stated, hoping for Queen Bean to turn around and board the ship again.

Everyone else moved ahead of him and climbed the staircase. Mario followed, preparing to face any Glurps, should they appear.

Queen Bean stared at one of the statues at the sides of the staircase, then at the frozen face above the doorway. Each one covered its ears with its hands. _They look as if they're annoyed by something they're hearing,_ she thought.

After everyone walked through the gate, four messengers from the Beanbean Kingdom also ran through it.

"Sir! Mr. Mario! Princess Peach is missing!"

"No…oh no…"

Mario ran for the gate, but it slammed shut. An enormous teapot in the wall started pouring boiling tea, melting the floor near the walls.

Everyone stood on a chunk of ice in the center, which plummeted to the depths below.

Jojora flew away from her tea party.

 _He's here._

 _It's playtime…forever._

Jojora stared down into the pit and couldn't believe her luck. She'd expected Mario to be a little harder to catch than that. Not only that, but she'd caught all his friends, too! Well, they deserved a second chance. As long as they played nicely, she would be merciful to them.

A voice shouted up from the pit. "Hello? Please! The princess from my kingdom is in danger!"

"Your friend, huh? You didn't care about _my_ friend, did you?"

Mario recognized the little girl as Jojora.

"Shut up!"

More tea came pouring down.

"Ow! Ow!"

"Naughty guests get more tea!"

 _I have to find a way out of here._ Mario could not believe fell into some twisted child's fantasy.

Jojora raised her wand, raising two Beanbean guards out of the pit. "We'll see if they play nice."

Mario desperately put his mind to work. Time was not on his side. The longer he took, the more guards might have to play. And there was no telling what Jojora had planned.

Each tea party could be the last.

* * *

One group of six marched through the woods leading to Twilight House.

Two groups of two shifted through the shadows behind them. Neither party noticed the other.

Three miles stood between the forest's edge and the clearing where Twilight House stood.

Four hours was the length of a guard shift, which each resident did once every two days.

Five steps from the clearing's edge, Popple stopped behind a tree to survey the area.

Six residents left for town, ready to sleep.

Popple couldn't believe his luck. They sent those sleepyheads? Half of them probably wouldn't even pay attention if he ran inside singing. He figured if he waited a while, they would get even more tired. The question was, how long?

Then he thought of a brilliant new plan!

"We stay here to see how long they stay here. Then tomorrow, we sleep in, see? We sneak in on the last hour they're here. They'll be so tired, we can steal it from under their noses, and even if they see us, it'll be easy to fight 'em off! We are golden! It's a brilliant plan, see?"

A plan that was, of course, completely ruined when he saw Green from the chateau run into the clearing with all the subtlety of a bank robber. Popple resisted the rage building up inside him. Any great thief must be flexible. Now was not the time to panic. This was merely a speed bump, not the end of the road.

If Green was here, Red couldn't be far behind. And every time Popple fought them, he lost. He could only hope the guards inside stalled and weakened them enough for him to swoop in and take the easy pickings.

Popple and Gus ran behind Twilight House and crept along the wall, waiting for their moment.

* * *

Inside, Luigi watched as Shadow Peach attempted to…persuade the guards to move aside.

 **"** ** _Excellent! If you could move aside, I will claim what is mine."_**

"Who…who are you?" Two trembling spears threatened the princess.

 ** _"Shadow Peach."_**

"What?"

"The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, with the Shadow Queen inside of me."

"Wait, the Shadow Queen?"

 ** _"You doubt me?"_** she boomed as she instantly extinguished every candle in the room.

"Evil beings like you are _exactly_ what we were placed here to defend against! Even if we weren't quite expecting, well… you!"

 ** _"I see… So you defy me…"_**

"Stand back!"

 ** _"How…amusing…"_** She smiled menacingly. ** _"You are foolish to oppose me."_**

"Better a fool than an observer to the world's demise! And you, are you allied with this evil witch?" he asked, turning his gaze to Luigi.

Luigi had no response.

"Enough! We will drive you out of this place, now!" Two spears, two swords, and two bows all aimed for the princess, as their wielders considered her the greater threat by far.

 ** _"Fools."_**

Shadow Peach's eyes shone bright red as she gathered the darkness in the room. Two arrows barely left their bowstrings before she released the darkness, knocking all six guards into the sides of the room.

 _We better make this up to them!_

 ** _You can pay them a visit later._**

Darkness emanated from the Dark Star in its container at the center of the room.

"Boo! BOO, I say! There isn't even a scratch on you! Well, I guess we have to beat you ourselves! I'll be taking that, see?"

Popple, hearing no more fighting, sprang into the room expecting to see Red and Green. Instead, he saw Green and… a beautiful girl in a creepy outfit.

 ** _"What sort of being are you?"_** Her demonic voice surprised Popple.

"Popple, the greatest thief alive! And this will be easy. Red isn't even here! I got myself a new rookie. And we're gonna crush you! CRUSH YOU!"

In reality, Popple wished he could steal whatever it was in there and leave, not having to deal with these two idiots. But picking the locks surrounding it would take a while and leave him an easy target.

Popple pulled out a hammer. "Quit thinking you're gonna win this time, just cuz you got that hammer! I've got a hammer too, see?"

 ** _"You are foolish to oppose me."_** Several shadowy hands appeared from the cloud of darkness underneath Shadow Peach.

 _Hands that come out of nowhere. That's amazing! We could steal so much stuff that way!_ "Hey, that's pretty impressive! Do you want to be my rookie? I could always take another one! The pay's great!"

 ** _"I serve no one_** **.** ** _You would do well to learn your proper place, slave._** **"**

"Umm…I take it that's a no? Well, ROOKIE GO TO IT!" Both of them charged straight for Luigi.

"Hey, why me?" Luigi complained as he pulled out his own hammer, swinging it into Popple's.

Gus took the opportunity to twirl the spear like a drill and thrust it into Luigi.

"OWWW! Shadow Peach, now might be a good time to do something!"

Gus readied a second strike, only for a thunderbolt to throw him off balance. "Hey, boss, let's take this one first! She's dangerous!"

Popple switched his focus and rammed straight into the princess, sending her flying into the wall.

She raised her hand and summoned another thunderbolt, which Popple easily dodged.

"Heh! You gotta be faster than that!"

Gus twirled his spear again. Popple swung him around and threw him at Shadow Peach, spear first. He turned to Luigi with a glint in his eye. "Did you see that? That was our… Bros. Attack!"

 _Shadow Peach is in trouble! She might be scary, but she helped me! I've gotta do my part!_

Luigi jumped twice onto Popple's head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "All, right, Rookie! Let's use THAT technique!"

Gus spun his spear in the air and lifted Popple up like a helicopter. Luigi readied his hammer, but Popple came down hard on him with his own.

Popple and Gus teamed up again on Luigi, but a wave of darkness hit them both and sent them flying towards the wall. A moment later, they hit it with a loud thud, falling onto two unconscious guards.

 _That was close,_ thought Luigi.

They came back with Gus sitting on top of Popple, who held out his hammer while spinning in circles. Gus waved a flaming spear menacingly. As Luigi charged in, Popple spun Gus into Luigi while spinning himself into Shadow Peach, knocking them both aside.

This time, neither of them looked like they were getting back up.

 ** _"How…how can I be so weak… as to be beaten by lesser beings such as these…"_**

"We WON! Rookie, we don't have to bother with these two losers, see? We can take that thing and scram!"

It took all of five minutes to pick the three locks. When they stole the Star, however, the doors to the room shut. Popple slapped his face. He couldn't believe he had fallen for the most obvious trap he knew of.

He pulled out his hammer and began swinging at the door, which slowly crumbled. After five minutes, though, he noticed the room's temperature dropped slightly.

"Rookie! Help me! They wanna freeze us solid in here!"

Gus, taking the cue, stole Luigi's hammer and began bashing the door with it. After a few minutes, a hole appeared, large enough for the both of them to slip through.

Popple couldn't believe his luck. He pushed the Star out the hole first, then himself, then lastly, he pulled Gus out.

 _Great, he's gonna sell it to Fawful,_ Luigi thought.

After another ten minutes the room was cold enough to freeze water.

Shortly afterwards, Luigi and Shadow Peach lost consciousness.


	5. Trouble and Relief

A/N: Exams are now over, so I'll come up with some more good chapters before finals.

* * *

Mario had run out of good escape ideas. He could climb the wall, if it weren't made of ice. Currently he was slowly melting the wall with Firebrand because he didn't have anything better to do. This process looked like it would take another five days, at the least.

 _Ice melts slowly._

On the top floor, Teeheena rolled in, taking her seat.

"What _is_ that awful thing? Keep it away from us!"

"That _thing_ is my friend! And now you've hurt her feelings!" Jojora glared at the two as Teeheena ran back the way she came, crying.

"Jerks!"

The two Beanbean guards noticed a flurry of ice blowing at them. Noticing was all they had time to do before they were frozen solid.

 _Creeps! How about those two. They look better behaved. Ughhhhhhh…this place is so boring. I hope at least one of these people can play with me._

She heard Mario yell. "Jojora! Please! Listen to me!"

"Shut up!" came her reply.

Lady Lima and Queen Bean went up while the two guards went down. Jojora nearly dropped her wand.

 _Ugh… h-heavy…_

"We will not suffer the humiliation of our esteemed visitor from the Mushroom Kingdom remaining trapped here! Release us at once!"

"No, first we're gonna have a little tea party."

Queen Bean knew a thing or two about tea parties, but only the boring adult ones where everyone made idle chatter, not childish ones.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Mario settled on a good plan. He couldn't break anything with his hammer, lest he risk everything collapsing. But he could hit the wall, shaking it and tipping the teapot above a little more.

Just as he wanted, tea poured in, freezing and creating a mound of ice. He repeated until there was no more tea.

"Mario will defeat you, fiend!"

" _Shut up!_ Stop trying to leave!"

Queen Bean and Lady Lima refused to even sit down for the tea party. They got the icy treatment, literally. Jojora returned to pick up two more guards and heard Mario's voice come out of the pit.

 _Jojora… I'm sorry I have to do this to you._

"Hey! You suck! I hate your tea party!"

"I guess you haven't had enough tea!" Jojora left to make more tea, oblivious to the fact that the pit now had a brown floor.

Jojora dumped more tea in and left with two more guards.

As expected, she returned again. "Your friends all suck!"

A while later, more tea sprayed into the pit.

"This is the _last_ chance I'm giving you jerks! If you're mean to my friend too, then I'll pour in the _whole_ teapot, not a little bit at a time like Oholina and Hoohoolia have been doing!"

Every guard winced. _Death by heat in a palace of ice,_ they thought.

The two at the tea party tried their best not to anger Jojora, but as expected when one sees a giant snowball rolling in one's direction, they jumped out of the way.

"She just…she just wants to _play_ with you!"

One guard found herself about to become a pancake on the wall. She stuck her spear out desperately, striking Teeheena in the face.

* * *

Seven years ago, two powerful sorcerers sent an army of Glurps and Clumphs to attack Beanbean Castle. The heroic Beanish army pushed them back all the way to their castle and killed both sorcerers, eliminating the threat.

They never noticed the cowering little girl in the corner with her little wand, her face turned to the wall, crying.

She practiced her ice magic every day in preparation for the next visitors.

Yet she still couldn't stop Mario and the other guy from mowing down her minions and melting her friend.

Today she held thoughts about sparing everyone except Mario.

Those thoughts disappeared as she saw Teeheena's bleeding face.

 _I must protect my friends._

"That's _it!_ I can't believe I thought any of you were going to be good playmates!" Jojora returned again.

 _I'm sorry, my Queen, and Mr. Mario… I have failed you._

Jojora returned to the pit to find it three-quarters full.

"It's-a me, Mario!" The pit was still deep, but nothing Mario couldn't jump out of. Heck, he did it without even trying.

Jojora couldn't contain her rage. "He escaped!"

Mario grimaced as Jojora's three remaining friends rolled in from upstairs. _Great, now instead of me and Luigi against two of them, it's me against four of them. And I have to beat them all before the tea finishes boiling._ Mario didn't like his situation one bit.

* * *

Luigi and Shadow Peach woke up chained to the wall in a house.

Shadow Peach laughed. **_"They thought_** **these** ** _could hold me?"_** Darkness surrounded all the chains, easily breaking them.

One resident remained in the house, presumably assigned to guard duty.

"Who…whose idea was it to hold the _Shadow Queen_ with _one_ set of chains?" Her voice contained both fear and anger.

 ** _"Please. It would not help matters if you used a hundred. These chains are terribly rusted."_**

Fear…then anger… then realization of what had just happened. "HELP!" she ran out of the room screaming.

Shadow Peach turned to Luigi. **_"You fought…well. Maybe you are less useless than you appear."_**

Luigi felt a little bit less scared now. Perhaps it was indignation, since this was still an insult. Perhaps because he saw her defeated. Perhaps because she didn't look with her usual cruel stare. Or perhaps all three.

"Well, gee, _thanks,_ " he shot back sarcastically.

"I think you were pretty good back there." Peach wanted Luigi to at least get a _sincere_ compliment.

 _No I wasn't._ Luigi had still lost.

Peach tried to comfort Luigi. "It was their teamwork. Every time they attacked, they worked together. That's why we lost. It wasn't because you were weak."

Four shady-looking townspeople burst through the doorway, cutting short their chatter.

"S-stand back, demon!" one of them said, his voice shaking.

 ** _"I have no interest in remaining inside this building. Do not interfere with my exit."_**

"We cannot allow you to escape! Ruin will come upon the world!"

 ** _"Oh, for… look outside. The ruin lies directly outside your home."_**

"You think you can distract us that easily? I wasn't… AAAAGH!"

Three-fingered floating hands floated above all four guards, knocking them aside and revealing the four Dark Wizzerds hovering behind them.

 ** _"My faithful servants…"_**

Next the hands flew towards Shadow Peach. She blocked them with her Dead Hands, resulting in some creepy arm-wrestling between many pairs of disembodied hands.

 ** _"I never imagined I would need to fight my own army."_**

Unfortunately for the Dark Wizzerds, they had no hands left to defend themselves, allowing Luigi to stomp on them repeatedly until they crumpled.

Luigi and Shadow Peach ran out the doorway to see residents being swarmed by Dry Bones, Chain Chomps, and Dark Wizzerds.

The Queen prepared to fly away, but Peach held her down.

 _We can't just leave them like this!_

 ** _Why? What worth do these people have to you?_**

 _They have worth because they are people._

A Dark Bones spotted the duo. "Hey! You! Lord Fawful wants you both either captured or eliminated! Surrender or die!"

 ** _Do you_** **still** ** _want to help them?_**

 _Of course!_

 ** _Very well…at least it is to my benefit that you possess such a pure heart. If you harbored any darkness, you would not have so much room for my own._**

"We haven't got all day! Make your choice, or we'll… OWWW!"

 _Nice thunderbolt._

 ** _I try._**

"Everyone! ATTACK!"

Fawful's minions learned the hard way that when attacking a queen of darkness who has destroyed hordes opposing her, it doesn't help to be a horde opposing her.

After a few waves of darkness, the few survivors fled in terror, among them the Dark Bones who first confronted her.

It was exactly the massacre one would expect in a battle between the Queen and a tiny portion of her former army.

Twilight Town's residents crawled out of their hiding spots towards Shadow Peach, including the man who had threatened her earlier.

"I'm sorry… please, forgive us for how we treated you earlier… how can we repay you?"

 ** _"You can start by polishing my shoes."_** Shadow Peach lifted the bottom of her dress, revealing a dark purple pair of high heels.

 _Hey!_

Peach spoke. "What she means is, we were happy to help you."

Luigi smiled. _They'll be an interesting pair._


	6. A New Companion

A/N: Well, the results of my daydreaming now span 18 pages. That surprises me.

* * *

Mario didn't know how he was going to get out of this one.

"Jojora! I don't want to fight!"

He barely managed to avoid Oholina rolling towards him, only to nearly run into Hoohoolia trying to grab him. He dodged that, running facefirst into Teeheena. A large ice spike hit him from below, sending him flying into Oholina, who sent him flying into the wall.

 _It isn't like last time… they're pushing each other and rolling even faster than Chucklissa when Luigi and I fought her._

Mario struggled to prevent Jojora from burying him in snow. He ran over to one of the many staircases outside the castle, hoping to get at least one of Jojora's friends to roll off the edge. Oholina did so; she rolled over the railing and her face emerged from the snow far below. Mario stood atop the staircase, throwing fireballs at Hoohoolia, who tried desperately to run up to him. As fireballs pelted her face she tripped and fell down the stairs. Teeheena tried and failed in the same way.

Mario forgot to watch the ground, earning him an ice spike that, luckily for him, threw him up and onto the stairs.

Sometimes fights were won in spectacular displays of tactical brilliance.

Sometimes, instead, they were lost by whoever made the last mistake.

At her age, no one could blame Jojora for failing to realize that wielding a ranged weapon meant maintaining range was a good idea. When Mario charged toward her, she stood her ground and prepared to deliver another ice spike.

Mario simply ripped her wand from her hands. She fell, now defenseless.

"We lost. You came here to kill us, right? Like they did to my parents? Come on. Do it already. Jerk."

Mario knelt.

"Jojora… ever since we left Beanbean Kingdom, I resolved that if we ever came here again, we would apologize for what we did. At the time Luigi and I thought you were trying to kill us, but with the whole adventure behind us, I realized the whole time, you really did just want to play. I didn't want to come back here, since I didn't think I was ready to face you. I'm sorry for what happened, and I know I could never make up for it."

"All Chucklissa wanted to do was have a tea party with you!"

"What did you want us to do when she came rolling at us?"

"Give her a big hug and move onto her side so you can spin while she's rolling! Duh!"

"Jojora… not everyone knows to do that. When a snowball twenty times someone's weight comes rolling their way, they really fear for their life."

"Wait… really? You thought Chucklissa wanted to squash you?"

"I thought we were both going to die in that room."

Jojora broke into tears. "I never… I never knew… so all this time, you felt the same way I did…"

Mario held the wand out to Jojora, who took it. "We were in a hurry. A witch kidnapped our princess and told us to come here. The same princess who's missing now… she probably got kidnapped again, and I'll probably have to save her."

"I'll go with you."

Mario stood, shocked.

"No! You don't have to…"

"It's the least I could do for you. Hoohoolia, Teeheena, and Oholina stay here. They can't be out in the warm weather. But I can go with you to help save your princess."

"She usually gets kidnapped by a giant Koopa who breathes fire."

Jojora blew an ice storm Mario's way. "Who's afraid of a little fire?"

"You might like her. She knows a thing or two about tea parties." _Of course, more tea parties means I'll have to attend more of them. But I can worry about that later…_

"Great!"

 _I hope you're ready, Bowser._

After lifting everyone out of the pit, Jojora flew onto the ship with Mario. She waved her friends goodbye.

"Bye! You all be nice to each other, OK?"

The guards looked at each other in confusion.

"Hooray for Mr. Mario! But… why is _she_ coming back with us?"

"She's coming back with me to save Peach," Mario replied.

"That _monster_? She tried to kill us!"

"She's our _friend_ now." Mario showed no interest in discussing this further.

As they left Joke's End, all the guards huddled together on the opposite side of the ship from Jojora.

 _I hope Mr. Mario knows what he's doing._

* * *

On a little-traveled road, Popple and Gus headed to board a ship for Keelhaul Key.

Popple stared at their prize. "Geez, how can this thing even be worth so much? What does it even do?"

He dropped it in shock as two red eyes appeared in its star emblem and dark spikes surrounded it before it split into five. A thick fog filled the air, and Popple and Gus were given no time to react before being knocked aside by the fake Dark Stars. The real one then flew off into the distance.

"Cripes! We did all of that for _nothing_? At least we're still rich! I've had enough of this place. We can bring this back to the Beanbean Kingdom, see?"

The duo headed back to Twilight Town to grab their secret stash of money so they could live comfortable lives in the Beanbean Kingdom.

* * *

Fawful scurried over to a spaceship armed on every square inch with an enormous variety of weapons. Lasers, missiles, gravity manipulators, and a couple other things Fawful created were on it.

Midbus groaned. Fawful told him he finished "Fawfulizing" the ship, and the last thing he wanted to hear was a long explanation of what "Fawfulizing" meant.

Luckily for him, the only demonstration he got was the spaceship disappearing, then reappearing again a short distance away. Midbus was then dismissed.

"Fawful is not needing to show you more of the excitement. I am knowing you have the boredom."

 _Fawful is not conquering the castle of that stupid Bowser again! No, I am thinking of another target! I have chortles at such excitement!_

He did his research, and he knew his target.

 _Rosalina… Fawful is coming like the horse no one expects to be having the victory in the race!_

Surrounding the spaceship was an army of drones.

"Fawful is needing more dark power for the ship to have the functioning! But soon, I WILL! HAVE! FURY!" He returned to the depths of the palace.

* * *

The Shadow Queen was never accustomed to being the hero.

On her seventh birthday when she found that shadows came when she waved her hand, she began hearing the mocking voices of everyone she knew.

"Oh no! She'll kill us all! Run for your lives!"

They told her she could be nothing but a horrible witch, and she worked her hardest to prove them wrong. Until that day she decided to prove them right. She learned how to control the darkness that came so naturally to her.

Her first conquest was her home village, where she heard familiar voices.

"OH NO! SHE'LL KILL US ALL! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

The Queen then appeared in Rogueport, destroying the city and transforming a quarter of it into the Palace of Shadow. She created many monsters and nearly conquered the world, but those four heroes attacked her, destroying her human body and sealing her spirit in the palace.

Now she stood before townspeople who didn't run away in fear.

They looked grateful. "Thank you! I'm sorry for how we acted towards you earlier. When Mario came to our town, we didn't exactly treat him very well, either…"

"Mario came here?" Luigi asked.

"Do you know him?"

"He's my bro! What do you mean when you said didn't treat him very well?"

"A fake Mario showed up, and we all thought it was Mario. We didn't know until right before the real Mario left. That was embarrassing…"

 ** _"We will take our leave now."_** Shadow Peach left.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

 _What now?_

 ** _We cannot attack my castle in our current state. We were unable to defeat even those two wretched fools._**

 _What else can we do?_

 ** _We should… I hate to admit it, but we should request Mario's aid._**

 _Great! He probably came back when he heard I was missing. There's no telling where he went since then, but going back's probably our best shot._

* * *

Mario arrived back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Having Jojora fly him over there took all of thirty minutes.

 _Well, nothing's destroyed. That's good. That probably means it was really easy for Bowser, though._

He found Toadsworth running around in a panic. "What to do…what to do…what to do…"

"How did Bowser get in _this_ time?"

"I don't know! Nobody even saw him!"

 _That's not like Bowser. He always makes sure everyone knows he did it. That's the kind of guy he is._

"Do you even know if it _was_ Bowser?"

"I don't know! I know this is far too long for the princess to be playing some silly joke on me!"

Mario decided to find out more. After all, if it wasn't Bowser, he would certainly be wasting a whole lot of his time. He could just fly to Bowser's castle now, but there were plenty of other places for him to hide her. Besides, there were plenty of times she had been kidnapped by someone else. Like Princess Shroob.

Except this time, he hadn't even been around to find out who it was.

This wasn't going to be easy.


	7. Reunion

A/N: If you're here, thanks for sticking with my story so far. Please let me know what you think!

* * *

Dark Bowser took in his surroundings. He saw many towns, but only one place mattered, and it was the Mushroom Kingdom.

First, the Star Sprites had to ruin everything by trapping him far under the ground.

Then, just when he had found a strong individual to copy the DNA of, that same individual punched him hard enough to destroy him.

Of course, it would be pure idiocy to march into the same place and lose in the same way.

He would lure out the kingdom's inhabitants. Then he would attack when they least expected it, when he had all the advantages.

A few Dark Satellmites ran towards the Mushroom Kingdom.

* * *

Rosalina didn't have much to do when no one threatened the universe. This particular day, she read from a storybook to the Lumas gathered around her.

She threw a handful of Star Bits and began her story.

"Yum! Delicious, Mama!"

"Once upon a time, some Lumas were having fun in a planet made of water. They liked to make the water shine different colors. The Lumas swam around and ate the Star Bits falling on them. But deep in the water, a big eel didn't want them to have fun on its planet. It didn't like noise or lights. So it swam towards the surface…"

An explosion interrupted them.

"Oh, is there a problem with the power again? Stay here. I will see what it is."

After leaving the room, Rosalina heard a voice.

"I HAVE FURY! The Comet Observatory…IS FOR FAWFUL!"

Fawful wasn't particularly concerned about what happened back in the Palace of Shadow. All he wanted it for was its residual dark power and to spare him the expense of digging out his own underground spaceship building chamber. After all, building and testing everything aboveground would be a surefire way to have everyone at his doorstep before he even finished the first drone. And no nice, uniform structure he knew of went further underground than the Palace of Shadow.

Rosalina sighed. _My home really needs some way to defend itself. All we did last time was send Mario off of it._

"How did you even _find_ me? I didn't tell even Mario where I went."

"Did you have such stupidity to think that finding this enormous comet would be giving Fawful the difficulty?"

 _Comet? Well, of course. No natural comet looks like my home when I transform it. How could I have been so stupid?_

Both parties prepared themselves for battle.

* * *

First Mario visited his house. Unsurprisingly, he found Luigi missing. _Well, of course. If Peach is gone, Luigi went off to find her._

Now Mario had no idea where to start. He walked through Toad Town looking for strange and unexpected things. Suddenly, one hit him in the face.

Specifically, it was a laser from a Dark Satellmite.

 _Why is this here? It must be left over from the Dark Star._

When several dozen more ran in from outside the town, shooting holes in Toad houses everywhere, Mario realized the trouble he was in.

He jumped on his attacker several times, only for it to charge at him and explode.

About ten more Satellmites shot while jumping erratically. There were just too many to dodge.

They continued to fire while being covered in ice and dropping to the ground one by one.

"Hey! Need any help?"

Mario grinned. "Just in time."

He jumped on another Satellmite, but this time, when it charged at him, it flew over and blew up three more. Five of them shot pointlessly at an ice wall next to Jojora.

Toad Town, however, was too large for two people to cover. Satellmites decimated buildings all around the edge of town.

When it was all over, at least a third of Toad Town lay in ruins.

As Mario headed in the direction the army came from, he noticed Jojora still following him.

"Jojora, this time the Mushroom Kingdom is under threat from not Bowser, but possibly the Dark Star. It is an evil artifact of immense dark power that I thought we destroyed, but it might have survived. I cannot ask you to put yourself in such danger."

"Pffft." Jojora stuck her tongue out at him. "You think you can ditch me _that_ easily?"

Mario had no time to argue. Toad Town could recover, but perhaps not if a second wave came its way.

He could hardly believe his luck. In the distance he saw Luigi running towards him! He could recognize his brother from a mile away. And who was _that_ with him? Well, he was about to find out.

As Mario ran he looked only at Luigi until all four of them met together.

Mario and Luigi embraced each other. "Luigi! It's so good to see you again! And… SHADOW QUEEN?!" Mario lost his balance and fell off his brother. "Luigi? What is happening?"

"Well, bro, the Shadow Queen's castle got taken over by Fawful, so Peach is helping her get it back."

"And you both _trust_ her? She controlled Peach's body and tried to make everyone her slaves."

"Hey! Speak for yourself, bro! Aren't you with that creepy tea party girl who tried to kill us?"

"Jojora is a child. The Shadow Queen is just plain _evil_. We don't even know what her name is, since she makes all her slaves address her by some honorific title."

 _What is your name, anyway?_

 ** _That disobedient fool does not deserve to know._**

 _Fine. I won't tell Mario. I'm curious, though._

 ** _Liliana._**

 _Liliana? That's a beautiful name._

 ** _...Thank you._**

"Luigi, the Shadow Queen is controlling her. Peach is probably suffering in there right now."

"Actually, no, I can control my body." Shadow Peach threw her arms around Mario. "See?"

If anything, her hug frightened Mario even more than her appearance.

 ** _…_**

 _I'll back off now. Does it really make you feel all that uncomfortable?_

They set off to look for the Dark Star, with Mario eyeing Shadow Peach suspiciously and Luigi doing the same to Jojora.

* * *

Popple and Gus sat atop their riches next to a pile of items. They bought just about everything there was to buy in the Beanbean Kingdom. Popple didn't get why the shops sold food and baggy pants. While they certainly didn't have to worry about going hungry, there was certainly no excitement to be had.

"Rookie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Gus handed Popple another Ultra Mushroom.

"No! Not that! It was great when we thought of brilliant plans to outsmart the schmoes who went after our treasure, see? And now that we're sitting on top of it, it feels kinda… boring."

"Yeah, I guess. Spending this money isn't too terribly exciting."

A dark hurricane appeared in the distance, spiraling up to the sky.

Popple and Gus looked at each other.

They left their hideout and treasure behind to satisfy their curiosity.

* * *

After Super Dimentio's defeat, Count Bleck and his minions transitioned to peaceful lives, with one notable exception. Mimi worked as Merlee's maid, Nastasia moved to Flopside, O'Chunks moved to Flipside, but Dimentio was nowhere to be seen.

When everything appeared to be ending, Dimentio still controlled the Chaos Heart. He saw the Pure Hearts converge on it, and he knew he would have to try again another day. Thus he took it away, interfering with its destruction of all worlds.

He saw his chance to become strong enough to defeat Mario. Carrying his Chaos Heart, he headed for the dark hurricane.

* * *

Out in space, Fawful bombarded every Luma in sight. He focused the brunt of his fire on Rosalina, but those Lumas launching his drones into each other were also a bother.

 _Wait. Are we falling sideways?_ Rosalina wondered why she never prepared for this type of attack. Then again, she hadn't anticipated any attacker to come with artificial gravity this strong.

Both drones and Lumas fell away from Fawful's ship as approximately equal numbers of them continued to destroy each other.

Fawful landed to begin their duel. He aimed to take control of the Observatory, and he couldn't do that from his ship.

Fawful had made some changes since his time fighting Mario and Luigi. His Vacuum Helmet looked less like a helmet and more like an entire robot sitting atop his head. He also wore a bulky metallic suit. Without his antigravity modules, Fawful would collapse instantly under the weight even under the weakest gravity. It not for his manic grin and ridiculous voice, Rosalina might well have concluded she was fighting a robot.

Rosalina hoped this time magic would triumph over science.

"Why do you seek to harm that which keeps the universe in order?"

"Fawful is taking the universe out of order! Order is giving Fawful the boredom."

Fawful's helmet spat green energy balls, which Rosalina easily shielded.

"Some are not satisfied with their place in the cycle of life…why rule the universe, when you can watch the ways people live their lives? Piantas, Gearmos, Jibberjays, humans… they all live their lives in unique and interesting ways. That was why I couldn't understand Bowser. To force everyone to live life your way, now wouldn't that be truly boring? I've watched the universe for millennia. It never fails to fascinate me."

"The universe is like the horse fleeing the barn of Fawful's desire. Fawful will have the mastery of it." He dove straight for Rosalina.

"Of course, every time the cycle of life repeats itself, people like you never fail to show up." Rosalina countered with a stream of stars, knocking Fawful into a wall.

"Fawful always gives the 110 percent...Always, the mustaches arrive…but this time, Fawful will pour dressing on his salad of evil."

"I see. It's a shame you spent so much of your life and worked yourself so hard for so pitiful a goal. You are just like Bowser."

"Do not compare the genius that is Fawful's to the king of stupidity!"

Rosalina teleported to Fawful's side and attempted to move him with her wand, but he activated an engine to go in the opposite direction. He shot some lasers, which Rosalina avoided. Rosalina tried shooting more stars, but despite the bulky suit, Fawful was just too fast.

Fawful fired two laser cubes, a miniature black hole, three invisible missiles, and a blast of pure heat, hoping that something would connect. One missile threw Rosalina upwards, allowing Fawful to hit her with more missiles and finally to knock her off the Observatory with a blast of air and onto a nearby planet. He then moved around the ship, blowing any Lumas he saw onto the planet as well. When he started shooting, the remaining Lumas were forced to flee to Rosalina for safety.

Fawful parked his ship on the Observatory and flew it away.

Fortunately for Rosalina, she landed on what was by no means a small planet. Unfortunately, she was stuck there.

She knew this planet. It offered her a chance.


	8. The New Queen

A/N: Finals week is fast approaching…might be my last one for a while.

* * *

Mario and his companions walked in silence. They didn't have much to say to each other.

Mario spoke his mind. "I'm less worried about the Dark Star and more worried about what happens if _she_ lays her hands on it. Even Fawful is a Nimbi compared to her."

 ** _"Do you have an alternative?"_**

"Yes. You stay behind while we destroy the Dark Star once and for all."

 ** _"Fool. You cannot destroy it."_**

Peach broke through to change the subject. "Who's that with you? I don't think we've been introduced."

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Oh, just a maniac who tried to murder me and my bro at the worst tea party we ever had." He resisted the urge to joke about how he felt Peach's tea parties were worse.

 _Great. There's just no stopping these guys from arguing._

"Can we all hurry up? I don't want the kingdom destroyed by the time we get there."

Dark Bowser and Mario saw each other in the distance. Perhaps Dark Bowser was prepared for two heroes, but now he was in full-blown retreat. Couldn't these heroes just fight alone and make the job easier?

He ran headfirst into an ice wall appearing from the ground, then tried to break up and reform but was scooped up by two giant hands and flung into the ground. Then both Mario and Luigi tossed fireballs at him. This went on until the Dark Star could take it no longer and rose up to explode…

 _That was too easy._

…only for Dimentio to take it and throw both it and the Chaos Heart at Luigi, who was sucked into the resulting vortex.

What was more terrifying than the Dark Star? Dimentio with both the Chaos Heart and the Dark Star.

Super Dimentio was back. He stood as before, clown-like and forty feet tall with Luigi's head. This time, he wore a black star emblem with red eyes, along with dark spikes rotating around his head. The Dark Star, interestingly, added to Super Dimentio's maniacal appearance. It appeared in place of his nose, which would look silly if it wasn't so high up. It was as if Dimentio ordered the Dark Star to complete the clown look, and it obeyed.

He towered over Mario and prepared to take revenge on him for previously stopping the destruction of all worlds.

Just then, Popple and Gus approached.

"Cripes! We might want to sit this one out, see?"

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha. Again, for dramatic effect! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Super Dimentio knocked Mario aside with a series of punches.

"I should thank all the actors for following my script perfectly! Unfortunately, you will not be participating in my next production."

"What kind of worlds would you plan to create, anyway?"

"Why, when I destroy all worlds and create them anew… it is every showman's dream. I can stage any production I wish!"

"You're insane."

 ** _"Have you contemplated becoming part of the audience? I once tried to control everything. It ended in misery."_**

"Did you start anew? Or did you try to fix the world in front of you like sad little puzzle pieces that do not fit together?"

 _Great,_ Mario thought. _Crazy minds think alike._

Super Dimentio threw Dark Satellmites at Mario and Jojora, which all exploded, knocking Mario up and Jojora down.

 _It was bad enough the first time we fought_.

Mario failed to notice the hand coming his way. Before he knew it, Super Dimentio had grabbed him and pounded him unconscious.

Now he turned to the two ladies, who desperately flung ice and struck him with lightning.

Dimentio knew he couldn't afford to get careless. These two unexpected opponents were formidable.

 _The show must go on._

Several spikes of ice found their way to Super Dimentio's arm and cut it off. Several more nearly severed his head.

"So you say you have tried to control everything? Join me and we shall begin the destruction and creation together! New, perfect worlds you can toy with as you wish!"

 ** _"As if I would desire to rule together with someone who sees the world as his own personal theater. People must be kept in fear and separated, not brought together to worship you as a god."_** The Queen's memories of her home village, over one thousand years ago, came back to her. There was something about being together that gave everyone the bravery to torment her. That was why, when she ruled, she never allowed anyone to organize and rebel.

 _I never knew they did that to her._

"But my offer, it drips with generosity! Join me, and I will give you half the universe for you to run in the way you desire. We will not interfere with each other's halves."

 ** _"I refuse."_**

"What a waste of time. Then your game will be over as this flawed production comes to an end."

Super Dimentio fired a stream of square projectiles at Jojora, who fell to the ground. She blew a blizzard at him, but she might as well have tried to stop an avalanche with a toothpick. He simply kicked her, knocking her unconscious.

"Next it is your turn."

He jumped, trying to crush Shadow Peach. She dodged and struck his neck with lightning. Dimentio realized Jojora's ice spikes had created a weak spot in it, but he didn't even have an arm to protect it with anymore. Lightning struck the neck again and again until finally, the head fell off.

"What…what…how did you do it…I was this close to my grand entrance…AAAAAAGH!" Super Dimentio disappeared, and Dimentio, Luigi, the Chaos Heart, and the Dark Star separated from each other.

"Hey! What happened? What is…Dimentio doing here?" Luigi asked. He had no idea what just happened. Looking around, he saw Mario on the floor, Jojora slumped against a rock, and Shadow Peach with one hand on the Chaos Heart and the other on the Dark Star. He turned to confront Dimentio, then froze in his tracks as his mind realized what was happening.

What was more terrifying than Dimentio with both the Chaos Heart and the Dark Star? The _Shadow Queen_ with both the Chaos Heart and the Dark Star.

Peach felt the Dark Star and Chaos Heart's power being drained into her. At first she resisted, but strangely, she felt soothed by the power of darkness flowing through her arms. Relaxing herself, the princess let a rush of corruption fill every corner of her being and vanquish any trace of light in her. She gained a black, ruby topped scepter and long, shadowy sleeves spreading downwards ending in dark tentacles that moved on their own. Lines of creepy, mystical symbols inscribed themselves on her dress and corset. Her cape transformed into a floor-length spiked cloak that wrapped around her sides and concealed her slender figure in darkness. Perhaps most terrifying were her eyes, which blazed a glowing red above her demonic smile. She enjoyed every moment of it.

Peach looked down in shock.

To her surprise, she _liked_ her new look. _Hmm, I could get used to this._

Dimentio decided it was a good time to teleport himself away. _All worlds will come to their end, and I will rule over perfect new ones. Just not today._

Mario still lay on the ground, so Peach held her hand out to help him get up. He gave her a tired look, then jumped awake backwards.

 _Too late,_ he thought, seeing the Chaos Heart and Dark Star lifeless on the ground.

"Well, if you don't need my help getting back up, you can just say so!"

"P-P-Peach? Are you all right?"

"Never felt better!" She flashed him an evil, sardonic smile and cackled maliciously. "Muh huh huh huh huh… what do you think, Mario? Do you like it?"

"No! Princess… what happened to you?"

Peach shot Mario a glare, making him cower.

 ** _Perfect! I couldn't have done it better myself._**

 _And he calls himself a hero._ She giggled. _Princess? I suppose I'm a princess because Queen Peach doesn't roll off the tongue as easily. How about… Shadow Queen Peach. That'll do._

Peach snapped her fingers. Her eyes glowed red and lightning bolts began to rain down. A dark wind whirled around her, growing faster by the second. She summoned endless hordes of shadowy hands, waving back and forth, along with two much bigger hands, one on either side of her.

For a split second she felt a horrible unease, but she brushed it off. The pleasure she felt overpowered it by far.

 _I can do that?_ Peach asked as her lightning continued to intensify.

 ** _Why, yes. My soul is now accustomed to your body, and my powers are more than fully restored._**

 _Let's try this out._

She raised her scepter. As it shook the earth, a hand ten times her size burst from its ruby. It looked ready to wring a dragon's neck.

 _Ooh, nice. Too big to pick up a teacup, but it'll do._

Luigi stood there terrified. Peach turned her attention to him next.

"What's there to be afraid of, Luigi?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Luigi shouted, gesturing all around him.

"Luigi, there's no reason to be afraid."

"Peach! No! Doesn't this feel wrong to you?"

"Oh, it actually feels really good, Luigi."

 ** _We're just getting started. Raise your scepter again._**

Peach did so. She summoned a massive skeletal dragon, a black dragon, and a red dragon, along with several demonic spirits.

 ** _Meet your new pets._**

She didn't understand. First they complained about having to rescue her all the time, and now they complain about this. _I thought Mario would appreciate that I can defend myself now._

Peach held out her hand, letting power flow to it. A horrible aura surrounded her. She felt a rush of pleasure as she engulfed the world in darkness.


	9. An Unwelcome Surprise

Fawful drove his new ship through the universe. He made a couple of upgrades to it. No sense letting such a magnificent source of power go to waste.

He stumbled across a planet full of Gearmos sorting trash. _What boringness. It is giving Fawful the boredom just to look at it. Such efficiency, and it is going to the garbage dump._ Fawful smiled inwardly at his own clever joke.

 _What nonsense Rosalina had the saying of! This ship had the naming of the Observatory, observing the life in the universe. But how stands Fawful the boredom of this? Fawful is having a new job for them._

Hours later, some Gearmos assembled drones, others produced energy cells, and still others worked on a ship.

The Gearmos really had no objection, since they knew only work, work, and more work. _But now is not the time for Fawful to be drinking the tea of victory just yet. There is still much universe for Fawful to be crashing the party of!_

He added a statue of himself for good measure.

* * *

Of all the planets Rosalina could have been stranded on, this wasn't the worst.

 _Penguins and Star Bunnies may be mischievous, but certainly not hostile._

She easily cleared away several Octoombas shooting rocks at her. Rosalina then looked for scrap metal she could build a ship with, or better yet, spare parts. She couldn't believe her luck.

 _An engine part! I'll be in space again in no time._

Before she could get to it, a Star Bunny grabbed it to play a game.

"Catch me if you can, boiyoing?"

"Please, this is not to time for… Ugh!" Rosalina's attacker interrupted her sentence before disappearing into smoke. She turned to see shadowy duplicates of her retracing her steps.

 _Cosmic Clones,_ she sighed.

"Hey! Slowpoke!" she faintly heard the bunny yell from far away.

 _This could take a while…_

* * *

Peach's eyes shone a brighter and brighter red, then suddenly stopped.

 _What am I doing?_

She felt her body protest as she called the darkness back into her. The pleasure stopped, replaced by a sharp, excruciating pain, almost as if her body itself refused to let light back into the sky. _Ow! Ugh…this feels awful…_

The Shadow Queen frowned in disappointment.

Popple couldn't have asked for a better distraction. It was the most obvious and overdone idea, but he wasn't one to be dramatic. He could ask for ten thousand coins, or something like that, but that would put him back at square one. He needed a legendary treasure, something that would make him famous. The Beanstar? No, he learned his lesson when it went berserk and he fell off of it. Suddenly he remembered.

Twilight Town's residents liked to talk about Mario a lot. They mentioned one thing that got his attention.

The Crystal Stars. They always talked about Mario and his quest to gather all seven of those whatever-they-weres. If he could manage to steal those, everyone would be talking about how great of a thief he was!

Popple furiously scribbled a note. Then with Mario and Luigi distracted, Popple and Gus hauled Jojora's unconscious body away and left the note in her place.

Mario stared at Peach's scepter, a long, purple hand with its fingers tightly clutching the ruby at the top.

He backed away, then heard the scrunch of paper under his feet, where Jojora should have been. _Where did this come from?_

"Hand over the… Crystal… Stars if you ever wants… I mean, want, to see your… friend," Mario read, clearly struggling to decipher the various misspellings. "Drop 'em at the… Fungitown or however those schmucks say it, that weird pile of mushrooms in the sky, and don't try anything funny."

He grimaced. _We really, really don't have time for this. But I must. I was supposed to keep her safe._

"It's Popple again. The way he writes, he might as well have signed the note."

"Oh, poor Jojora…" Luigi turned to face Peach. It felt odd to him to see her sad face when he had just gotten used to her demonic evil grin with pointed fangs.

 _Liliana?_

 ** _We'll get your friend back._**

"What are we waiting for? The faster we do this, the faster we can make Fawful learn his lesson!" Peach grabbed Mario's arm in hers, flying off towards her kingdom.

* * *

It was Gus's turn to carry the tied-up Jojora, and Popple's turn to squint at her wand to try to figure out what exactly it was. He decided that once the girl woke up she would blab all the information he needed. After all, he could certainly outsmart a little child.

Popple sighed. Everytime he had tried to steal something that would elevate him to unquestionable greatness, something had gone wrong, because of some stupid thing he didn't know. That silly Beanstar was only worth anything if he had _a pure voice_ , of all things. Where was he supposed to get _that_?

"I don't get it. How are the stars or whatever going to help us again?"

"Some schmuck used 'em to beat up some demon in a palace, see? And it was that creepy lady from before, but I didn't know that! They have some kind of power. I don't care what kind of power it is, any kind will do! But it makes 'em famous! And when we have 'em, we'll be golden, see?"

He liked that. _No more Gus the Thug, or Gus the Bodyguard. It's gonna be Gus the Demon Slayer. They told me to read my history books. Now the history books gonna be about me._

* * *

Star Bunnies.

They meant no harm. When they were bored, they'd chase each other all around. They'd steal a thing or two, make others chase them, only because they wanted to play a game.

They didn't care whether anyone else _wanted_ to play. No, they were too silly for that. Or, rather, they _existed_ to play.

Penguins were mostly the same, so they made good playmates. Rosalina sometimes stopped by because she needed that bit of light-heartedness.

Rosalina, for once in her life, wished they could be serious.

"Hey! Old lady! Are you practicing how to skate?" a Penguin called from the distance.

Wait. Something wasn't right.

Was she… _frowning_? Clearly she wasn't having any fun.

"Hey! Why so gloomy, old lady! Turn that frown upside-down!" the Penguin called, returning to skate several circles around Rosalina.

"Please… I don't have time… to play," she panted.

 _Don't have time to play? What? How can anyone not have time to play?_

"What? _Everyone_ has time to play!"

Rosalina wished she had landed on the Gearmo planet. However, the universe just happened to be diverse. She had finally created and assembled enough starship parts to make a mass too big for Star Bunnies to play catch with.

 _What's the point of making something too big to play catch with, boiyoing?_

Some creatures wanted to play all day, some wanted to work all day. Some liked beaches, some the snow. Some liked order, some liked chaos. It was the beauty of watching over the cosmos.

Then it hit her.

"All right." She smiled. "Let's play."

* * *

Mario wasn't used to being carried in Peach's arms.

 _Usually it's the other way around. I guess this is how Peach feels. One hand on my neck, the other on my legs, and another one on my back-_

"Peach, can you please stop using three hands to carry me? It's… creepy."

"Fine," she huffed, pulling the shadowy hand away.

He stared up into her sparkling red eyes, which were focused on the sky ahead. She looked down on him.

"Tee hee hee… **_huh huh huh huh!"_** Her giggle broke into a demonic cackle. "You'll never have to save me from Bowser again!"

 _Yes, but who's going to save me from her?_

"Oh, if he ever shows up again…" Peach's entire form blurred into shadow, except for her eyes, which flashed red.

Fear of Peach, and now pity for Bowser. _What next?_ Mario thought.


	10. Luigi's Mansion

The great Popple of course was no schmuck. Of course he wouldn't want to show up _in person_ at Little Fungitown to collect the loot. Money couldn't buy happiness, but it could buy mercenaries. Hundreds, or even thousands. If it came to a fight, he wanted to make sure he couldn't lose. Gus, of course, knew where to find the toughest Rogueport gangsters money could buy.

"Rookie! This is the moment we've been waiting for, see? All we gotta do is make sure she doesn't go anywhere."

Jojora had already stopped trying to break the chains long ago.

"What do you jerks even _want_? More of these stupid coins?"

"Nah, something even better! Once we're done we'll be as famous as that Mario guy!" Gus replied, grinning ear to ear.

"So I guess I'm stuck with you? I can't even play tea party?"

"Shaddup!"

* * *

Fawful zoomed through much of the universe. Most of its inhabitants weren't as shocked to discover that someone practically declared himself the new king of the universe as they were to discover that it wasn't just Bowser again.

Two Piantas stood on the beach in front of a screen stuck on a tower.

"If only it were Bowser again. That big galoot was too busy with whatever-her-name-was to pay any attention to us."

"Yeah, this guy is so full of himself. Just look at all the statues of himself he polluted our beach with."

They were interrupted by a loud, booming voice.

"And now, without further ado… THE FAWFUL SHOOOOOOOOW!"

They both groaned.

"Fawful is hearing the applause!" Fawful screamed over applause roaring through the speakers.

"But Fawful is needing to hear it even more!"

His voice echoed through the many, many planets he decided to make stops at.

"Fruit! Fruit for saaaaaaale!" A Pianta tried unsuccessfully to make himself heard over Fawful's voice.

Fawful enjoyed the conquests he had made so far. After all, the Mushroom Kingdom could always come later.

 _Fawful is needing the revenge. But I must have patience, like the farmer that waters his plant._

"More! More!"

* * *

Rosalina turned towards the Penguins in front of her. "Stop! I'm trying to do something."

"What is it? Is it fun?"

"I'm trying to make a giant pile of metal so that it'll be a lot easier to play with!"

"Oh! We can make a slide! And funny looking hats! And… and… we can play hide and seek in it! Cool!" They ran everywhere looking for any scraps they could find. Luckily for Rosalina, a few of them were functional parts.

After a few hours, there was much more metal than anyone could ever hope to use.

Rosalina felt guilty. _Was it right to trick them into doing this?_ She quelled her conscience by arranging some of the metal into several small houses and a giant slide, before finally getting to work on her starship.

 _Alright! Now we're getting somewhere._

"Tag! You're it, boiyoing!"

"Hey! No bouncing up the slide, cheater!"

* * *

Mario finally saw mushroom-shaped houses in the distance. He reached his home and pulled the Crystal Stars out of the box in the basement he kept them in.

Luigi frowned. "We aren't just going to give these to Popple, are we? All he's going to do is cause more trouble."

"If we don't, we could only get Jojora back if Popple doesn't notice us. And how could we steal her without him seeing? Can you turn invisible or something, bro?"

 _Without him seeing. Turn invisible._

A grin spread across Luigi's face. "No."

Luigi had once won a mansion in a contest, despite never having entered a contest. The mansion stood on a hill, surrounded by barren trees, and two of its windows glowed dimly above its main entrance, making it appear alive and hungry. Luigi led the group, approaching his mansion.

Peach crept up behind Luigi and placed her hand on his shoulder, causing a scream that earned a giggle from her.

"Luigi, my boy! The fearless ghost hunter!" Professor E. Gadd greeted them at the door. "I wasn't expecting you back! Have you come for more ghost-catching? Those ghosts aren't going to get in the portraits themselves!"

Luigi felt a pang of sadness. "No, actually… I'm not here to put them in. I'm here to take one out."

E. Gadd felt certain his hearing was off. "Can you say that again? My ears must not be what they used to."

"I'm here to take a ghost out of a portrait."

"No! Why could you possibly want to do that? All of them must want to kill you for trapping them! Furthermore, they're all menaces!"

Luigi frowned. "No. There was one…"

* * *

Several Years Ago

Luigi entered the room cautiously. Armed with his Poltergust 3000, he was ready to trap another ghost in a portrait so he could move on and find Mario. Darkness covered the room, so he moved his flashlight around, revealing a xylophone, a violin, three drums, and other musical instruments. He hit one of the drums… and it began playing _by itself._

Curious, Luigi played the violin, then backed away. It also continued playing music. Normally he would run out of the room screaming, but he rather liked the music. He played all the instruments in sight, then noticed a piano. Luigi ran towards it, intending to play it too.

Suddenly, a yellow-haired ghost girl in a pink dress phased into view on the piano seat. Luigi reflexively raised his Poltergust, expecting her to attack him as the other ghosts had. Instead, she started playing the piano, complementing the other instruments' sounds.

"My name is Melody. People call me the spectral beauty of the ivory keys! What a stirring performance. I haven't been so charmed by a piece for ages! You must have a delicate ear for music. Would you like to listen to my piano sonata?"

 _Gulp… why not?_ "Sure!"

"Well, here I go."

Luigi could now only hear the piano.

Melody finished playing. "By the way, that song was featured in a famous game. Do you know which game?"

"Super Mario Bros. 3!" _Duh, I was in that game!_

"Exactly right! You got it!"

 _I can't believe King Boo ordered me to attack him. It's been so long since I've met anyone who shared my taste for music. Why, oh why must I?_

"Very impressive! I guess I needn't hold back with you!"

She sent her music sheets at Luigi. They flew around him, attempting to land a blow, but one by one they fell into his vacuum. He turned his attention to Melody, who, faced with the bright light, buried her face in her hands. She looked into Luigi's eyes.

Luigi saw fear. Pain. Desperation.

His face twitched, then he steeled himself.

"I'm sorry, but I have to find my bro."

Melody flailed around, trying to flee, but eventually Luigi vacuumed her up. He grabbed the key to the mansion's next room, then continued on his way.

* * *

Present Day

E. Gadd shook his head. "I cannot allow you to do such a thing."

Luigi simply made his way to Melody's portrait, grabbed it, then ran to the Ghost Portrificationizer. He put it in reverse, then inserted Melody's portrait.

The professor ran as fast as his old legs would carry him, but he came too late.

"No…"

 _Once the machine has started, it must be allowed to run its course. Any attempt to stop it could result in disaster._

He waited, fearful of what was to emerge.

Melody was dispensed from the end of the machine. She looked around at her surroundings, confused as to how she ended up there. Then she noticed a certain ghost hunter clad in green.

Luigi sighed in relief. _It worked._

"YOU! You're the one who vacuumed me!" She began chasing Luigi around the room with a murderous look on her face.

"Hey! You attacked first!"

E. Gadd hid in a corner. "And this was supposed to be a good idea, why exactly?"

Luigi managed to run just barely ahead of her. "King Boo put my brother into a picture!"

"Like you did to me!"

"I was going to come back for you! Honest! I swear! That's why I put your portrait in the machine!"

"Come back here, Luigi!"

 _Why does anyone say that? Does anyone actually come back?_

She abruptly stopped, turning her head. "Oh! It's Mario! I recognize you! From Super Mario Bros. 3! And Super Mario World!"

 _Hey! I was in those games too!_

"That's right!"

"I'm Melody. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Melody felt so excited, she forgot she couldn't shake Mario's hand. Their hands passed through each other.

E. Gadd slowly walked out of the corner, eyeing Melody suspiciously.


	11. Chaotic Melody

Melody Pianissima smiled sweetly. She appeared to have no problem transitioning from attempted murder to polite conversation.

 _Great,_ Luigi thought. _We've got Peach, Jojora, and now Melody. When am I going to run across a girl who isn't scary?_

"I have two controllers upstairs. We can play there," Melody offered.

"Now hold on! We can't let any of Van Gore's horrors loose!" E. Gadd exclaimed, holding up a newer model of Poltergust, the Poltergust 5000.

Luigi swatted it away. "She's not exactly attacking us."

"She _just_ chased you around the house attacking you! Move aside, boy! She's going back into her portrait."

Melody passed through a wall, while E. Gadd left the room to pursue her.

Peach threw up a giant hand to block him. He recoiled, shocked, but quickly recovered.

"Now _that_ one is new." It went down with a single blast from his laser pen.

"Come on! We have to stop him." Peach followed E. Gadd through several dark hallways, with Mario and Luigi close behind.

They soon encountered him fleeing in the opposite direction, obviously in a hurry.

"He's running from a swarm of… paper?" Mario asked, clearly having no idea what was happening.

"I guess I never told you that story, bro."

Melody swatted the Poltergust out of E. Gadd's hands as he continued to run from the music sheets. He backed into a corner, hands raised and trembling, waiting for Melody to strike him down. Melody crept closer and closer, grabbed his neck…

…and then she smiled again, as if she had just wanted to chat.

"I stay. All right?"

He nodded sheepishly.

* * *

Popple dangled Jojora's wand above her.

"Hey! Give me that!"

"Give you what?"

"Give me back my wand, freak!"

 _Heh heh. So that's what it is. That was easy. What a schmuck._

He swung it around at random. Ice shards flew out the top.

Popple wasn't an idiot. He knew how to use one of these things, but this would take some getting used to.

"Hey Rookie! Lookie here!"

* * *

Rosalina finally assembled a working vehicle. She crafted the engine, attached the controls, put it together, and sealed it airtight. All it needed was some fuel.

 _There might be a Power Star here somewhere._

"Have any of you seen a shiny star?"

"Yeah! We had one, but we lost it in that cave." The Star Bunny pointed to a cavern far away.

"Can you please show me where it is?"

"We… we don't go in there. There's a big, scary monster in there, boiyoing…"

 _Great._

She headed for the cave.

"No! Don't go in there! It's scary!"

After walking through the entrance, Rosalina soon found it impossible to see anything. She finally noticed a glow coming from around a wall. As she passed the corner, she jumped back.

 _That's the star, all right. I just have to fly over this lava._

Rosalina waved her wand, then flew slowly towards her prize. Before she could get there, sharp claws swung at her, barely giving her time to react.

"Hey! Mine!"

Rosalina swung around, noticing a dragon roughly ten times her size. "I'm sorry! I didn't know it was yours. I'll try to find another one."

"Yeah, buzz off. I need this shiny thing to catch me those Star Bunnies. Those idiots will chase after _anything_ shiny."

She gasped. "What do you _do_ with them?"

The dragon licked its lips.

"They… were… _delicious._ "

Silence.

Then an uncontrollable rage.

Rosalina had discovered one of the lowest forms of cruelty in the universe. Exploiting other beings' nature for personal gain. Killing what was helpless to resist, what bounced on cluelessly to its doom.

She shot streams of stars at the dragon, one after the other.

"You wanna protect those bunny freaks? Hey, it's not my funeral."

Neither side moved in. Rosalina continued aiming at her opponent, which circled her. In a flash, it saw its opportunity, grabbing her and plummeting towards the lava, somehow rendering her shield useless, before Rosalina climbed up its arm. Both combatants backed away from the lava, neither eager to take the risk.

"I've done this too long to meet my end at the hands of some twenty-something busybody."

"You flatter me. I tell no one my age, but let's just say it's much, much higher than twenty."

"Humph. This is waaaaaay too much work for something I can't even eat."

"Right. And I should allow you to continue devouring bunnies?"

"What else am I supposed to eat? Rocks?"

Rosalina sensed something wrong.

 _It's far too clever and hardy to be a common predator._

One stream of stars connected and bounced off with almost no effect.

 _What is an anti-magic dragon doing in a place like this?_

She doubted she could convince it to become a vegetarian.

* * *

Melody held up her controller in triumph. "I win again!"

"How is it someone can beat me at my own kart-racing game?" Mario thought out loud.

"Well, when you're dead and stuck in a mansion, there isn't much to do besides play either the piano or video games."

"Um, don't we have somewhere we need to be?" Luigi interrupted.

Melody broke her concentration to look up at Luigi. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, ragamuffin. Do you have any _idea_ how long I was in there?"

"You sent those murderous freak sheets at me!"

"I wasn't the one going around sucking up ghosts!"

Peach walked into the room to find Melody and Luigi at each other's throats and Mario unsuccessfully trying to separate them.

"Am I interrupting something? Do we not have a goal right now?"

They paid her no attention.

"King Boo had my brother, and you were one of his goons! I had to suck you in to get through!"

"He did? I stood between you and your brother?"

"Yeah! He stuck Mario in a painting!"

Melody appeared sad, though this lasted only the blink of an eye.

"Like you did to me! Oh! Mario's your brother? I recognize you now. But you still could have come back earlier, ragamuffin!" She shook Luigi's neck, causing his head to jiggle back and forth. She would not have stopped if it weren't for a wave of darkness sending Luigi flying towards the corner.

"Are you two done yet?"

 ** _This is the experience of having friends?_**

 _Yes. It is._

Mario decided to tell her as they walked back downstairs. "This is what Luigi brought us here for. Someone I know has been kidnapped. The thief wants a set of artifacts I cannot allow to fall into the wrong hands."

"And you came here, why exactly?"

"He would see any of us if we came in there! But someone he can't see…"

Melody scowled. "So that's it? Get me to save your friend, and stuff me back in the painting? Why not get somebody else, like Biff, or Sir Weston, or even that butler guy who stalks me?"

"Well, when I found you, I was… surprised. Up until that point, every other ghost just wanted me dead. And when you were attacking me, you seemed… sad. Like you didn't want to do it."

"Right. And then you put me in that thing. I _do_ want to attack you now." She squinted at him.

"I… came back before. The professor talked me out of it, though. It was right after I got Mario out of the painting. I-"

E. Gadd interrupted. "He dropped your portrait into the machine, attempting to run a second portrait after it cooled down."

"And _why did you take it out?_ Why do you hate ghosts so much?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with every ghost I've met trying to kill me for the past forty years?"

She looked ready to strangle somebody, then turned to Mario, changing her expression to a calm frown.

"I'll help you, but I think I'm about ready to leave."

They ran out the door and into a Koopa holding some papers. He dropped them and ran off.

Curious, Mario started reading. "I can't stand you slowpokes any longer! If you don't come in twenty-four hours, I'll just get rid of this crumb-bum, see? Now yuh-" _Great, now I'm reading the way he writes._ "I mean, now you might wanna hurry up!"

"Hey! We're coming!"

"I didn't mean you, Luigi. That's what this note says. Also, the other papers are just pictures of Jojora screaming."

* * *

"Where were they?" Popple asked of the Koopa.

"In a creepy house in the middle of a creepy forest with creepy trees. There was some creepy ghost with them."

"ARRRRRRGH! That's it! They're just wasting my time! They think I'm stupid, see?" He angrily slapped the Koopa's delivery fee into his palm. "I'm not gonna wait much longer! And if they are gonna come, they probably got some kinda trick!"

Gus grinned. "Don't worry, boss, I got just the thing." He attached a mushroom-shaped device to Jojora's head. Wires sprang out of it in every direction.

"And now she goes to Little Fungitown."


	12. Terms and Conditions

"Fawful is having the boredom", Fawful said to himself. "It is because Fawful's sandwich is lacking the revenge on the mustached brothers. But I must have patience!"

Usually, when Fawful had the boredom, someone, somewhere, would wind up on the receiving end. This time, Lubba and his Luma crew rested on Starship Mario, traveling the universe.

"Well, we haven't got any adventures to go on now, so I guess we'll _bee_ visiting the Honeyhive Galaxy! Har har!"

The Lumas would have groaned if Lumas could groan.

"We're almost there! I need to tell Queen Bee to stop sending so many Bees around here. This allergy really _stings_! Har har!"

He felt rotten Star Bits pelt his face.

"Hey! It's the Observatory! Rosie's paying us a visit!"

Instead of stopping, however, the Observatory collided into Starship Mario. The resulting wreckage could hardly be considered a starship.

"Fawful will be needing all your Power Stars. They have the scrumptious energy that sings the song of Fawful!"

"Are you Rosalina's replacement pilot? Can you tell her you just busted our ship?"

Fawful ignored Lubba and entered the engine room.

"Hey! What's your problem, pal? We need those things!"

"Problem? I have not the understanding. Fawful is problemless. Fawful's evil is having the smoothness of going. No problems."

"So first this monster guy, and now you too? This is pretty rough…"

Fawful continued throwing stars outside. "At last! The moment of triumph! Fawful's days of stealing silly princess voices are over!"

"Princess? You kidnapped that princess too? That's cold. Deep-space cold, pal. You're just like that monster."

"No, when Fawful kidnaps the princess, Fawful has the thinking. Fawful has the smartness. Bowser does it because he is the king of stupid!"

* * *

Melody went ahead of the group. She turned invisible, looking for the individuals Mario had described.

"I still don't see 'em", Popple fumed from his vantage point. "So let me get this straight. They show up, and if they don't do what we want, they go kablooey, right?"

"Right". Gus motioned to the digital map in Popple's hands.

"I dunno why I trust all these gizmos." Popple scratched his head.

"Hey, with all this stuff, maybe the name 'Robbo Gang' actually makes sense now."

"Hey, I thought 'Robbo' didn't from robots. It came from-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He motioned to Ishnail, Garf, and Goose, along with a row of towering contraptions. Goose frowned at him. "Well, okay, so maybe Goose actually deserves all the credit. But you get the idea."

It was, of course, impossible to guarantee loyalty with money. Except with robots.

Popple stared up at four enormous cannon arms.

"Well, that looks impressive, I say." He flipped a digital map sideways, then upside-down, then sideways again. "How does this thing work again?"

While they continued moving, Popple noticed a mushroom symbol move left on the map.

Goose ran his daily inspection again. The Bullet Bills? All loaded. Good. The Podoboo launchers? All clean. Perfect. The electric arm? One ghost messing around at the fingers. Excellent. The spinning – wait. Hold on.

"I found something weird," he reported.

Ishnail sighed. "Fine, Mr. Wrench Guy. We'll keep it rolling while you fix it. No need for us to stop every time you 'find something weird'. Now, how rich exactly does this make us?" His voice almost shook with excitement, but he managed to keep it in. _I can't believe we're gonna steal this much without that jerky-for-brains Don Pianta knowing a thing._

"Well, those Crystal Stars have to be worth a ton. We'll be the most famous thieves in the world, see?" Popple grinned.

"Well, I guess that's good too. Say, wait, wasn't that what that Mario guy used to defeat that darkness?"

"Red Mustache Guy? Yeah, sure, I heard all about that klutz a million times already. He won't be needing them."

"Wait! That guy's a hero! He saved the world! We can't-"

They were interrupted by the digital map switching to a view of Little Fungitown.

"Hey! That's Mario! And…that witch queen he supposedly saved the world from! He seems to be awfully chummy with her."

"Yeah, whatever, we ran into her before. What about her?"

Ishnail resumed walking.

"We're gonna put a stop to this. Hero, my foot. But first, Goose, fire up the super-vac. I can't believe we actually needed that. Good call."

Melody winced. _Whoops._

"Wait! You don't want to fight Mario-"

The rest of her words were lost in the vacuum.

"It's just as I thought. Mario's no hero, he's chums with ghosts and witches. Guess we'll have to play the part."

* * *

Rosalina ducked again under the dragon. "Leave. Find another place to feed."

"Yeah? I used to work for Bowser Jr., on that sorry little rock, but, oh yeah, he gave me NOTHING TO EAT. He was all like, 'Sure, Gobblegut, when Mario arrives, you can eat him!' Yeah, that didn't happen. You think I'm going back out there so I can fly around another pathetic asteroid?"

 _He's becoming really talkative all of a sudden._

"That Mario guy must think he's such a hero beating up everyone who's minding their own business just so he can get those stars. Just ask that Rollodillo guy. The furry thing was rolling around on some ball-shaped cage when suddenly he gets walloped from behind. What does he even eat, anyway?"

Despite his constant yammering, Gobblegut dove precisely against his target again, missing by a few inches as Rosalina swerved out of the way.

"Oh yeah, and the guy had to come when I was sick and swollen up, too. What a hero. All he did was spin into my body and it popped right up."

 _I remember Mario talking about that. "Belly bulges", I think he said._

"Oh…oh…and what about what's-his-face Piranha with the eggshell still on his back? Mario beat up on him too. Yeah, anyways, I was given this stupid star, which I COULDN'T EAT, by the way, so that I could lure Mario in, who I also COULDN'T EAT."

"Why do you require the star?"

"Oh, well, I actually need it now. It helps catch those bunnies."

* * *

Mario's trip to Little Fungitown was relatively quiet. No one was talking. Well, technically, Peach was.

The princess stroked her arms and ran her fingers down the length of her long, flowing hair.

 _Hey! What are you doing?_

 ** _My apologies. The last time I inhabited a body was a thousand years ago._**

The Queen held out her hands and the princess laid herself to rest on them. The Queen's head then loomed over her, looking down and examining her features.

 ** _Such a fine vessel…_**

 _Excuse me? Am I just some kind of empty shell now? I'm not useless, I'll have you know. Call down another lightning bolt._

Her curiosity piqued, the Queen did so. With Peach putting her full effort into the motion, the result was a lightning bolt ten times stronger than the one Mario had seen when he last fought her. He jumped aside in shock, despite being far from the impact.

 _Do you remember back when you fought Mario?_

 ** _That was a mere fraction of my power! It was so irritating having your soul resist me every step of the way! I could have easily crushed him if you were compliant, girl!_**

 _Well, instead of resisting you, now I'll assist you. Look at what you can do._

 ** _And I assume I must satisfy you for that to happen._**

 _Perhaps. To use this vessel properly, you'll have to make her happy. So, no killing Mario._

The princess smiled up at the face staring down at her.


	13. Pure Heart

Peach's body turned its head towards the Mushroom Kingdom. Her eyes narrowed, and her lips formed a sardonic grin.

 ** _For what reason should I return to my abandoned palace dormant for a thousand years, when my vessel rules a fine kingdom?_**

 _What do you mean?_

 ** _We can enlist help from your kingdom._**

"I think she wants me to get some of the Toads to help us."

No one had any objections, after all, more help would be welcome, and they would make it in time anyhow.

* * *

She reached the palace shortly after she left.

 ** _This kingdom is unfit for a queen such as myself. Firstly, this sickly sweet palace…_**

Peach's body held out its hand, sending forth a cloud that drained the palace of its vibrant color, turning it a dull black. She floated through the doors into her throne room.

 ** _This throne appears… lowly… welcoming… it inspires neither respect nor fear._**

Her throne rose, a red velvet chair topped with an enormous red jewel, gray stone lining its arms on the sides. It stood towering over any would-be visitor, a chair worthy of the newly returned Queen. She was about to continue remodeling this filthy palace when Peach objected.

 _Don't we have somewhere to be?_

Demonic hands emerged, stroking her back and brushing her hair, assuring her that she truly belonged here, or at least that she could wait a little longer.

The Queen smirked. Now she had regained more than her original power, and to top it off, fully accustomed herself to this new vessel, though sometimes she still stood in her way. She had felt it, that even though her vessel's friends couldn't hear a word they communicated to each other, that they still distracted that foolish girl from her influence, as her thoughts drifted to them. They were alone, leaving her to continue the next phase of her corruption. Peach had a side of her she suppressed to remain the sweet and innocent princess everyone knew her as. All she needed to do was set it free. After all, an emotionally conflicted vessel just wouldn't do, and royal girls of pure heart weren't exactly a dime a dozen.

 ** _Do you remember the first time I possessed you?_**

 _The time you made me fight my friends? I'd like to forget it._

 ** _What did you feel… at first?_**

Peach searched her mind for the moment after she lay helpless on the floor, when her body rose in her new attire. Other than losing power over her body, she felt an unfamiliar dark power flooding her veins. To some degree she felt the Queen's pleasure in her rebirth; she had also, after all, been reborn into something new.

 _I felt… new. Changed._

 ** _After that?_**

After that she fried Grodus with a lightning bolt. Even if she had no power over her own movements, she felt delighted that her own hands rose and destroyed her tormentor. That twisted smile afterward wasn't just the demon inside her body, it was also her own smile.

 _He got what he deserved,_ Peach thought, referring to Grodus.

 ** _Continue._**

Then… she offered Mario the choice to become her servant. He'd always been her servant, rescuing her from a myriad of dangers time and time again. That time would've been different; instead of being captured she would spread her rule over the world. If he said yes, the Queen would use her body to engulf the world in her foul magic…

Two hands clutched her waist, pulling her back slightly.

She would engulf the world in her foul magic… and she would rule forever.

 ** _And then?_**

She had fought Mario. Every blow had hurt not just him but her too. Every time her hands sucked his life away, or dragged him into the darkness. The one she wanted… to rule alongside her.

 _It felt terrible._

 ** _Terrible? When have you not felt terrible?_**

When hadn't she felt terrible? Certainly not in her captivity. Perhaps when she was back home, fretting about the next time she would be kidnapped… no, not then. That feeling only left her when the threat of losing control of her life left her. Like when she lost control of her own body…

Two more hands wrapped around the front of her dress, stroking her legs.

No, that was wrong. She realized the truth now. Oh, how ironic that she had the greatest degree of possession over her life when she was _being_ possessed. No, she wasn't possessed. That would imply she was being controlled. No, she was _given_ control. And both her and Mario… they both fought it, him from the outside and her from the inside. She even begged him to fight on, giving him the last of her power. How foolish she had been. The words rang in her mind: _Know me as your queen._ Yes, her Queen. Her Queen was right, she was truly a wretched little girl to disobey her, after all her Queen gave her. Her Queen gave her freedom from the _light_ that made her unwilling to harm others and made her dependent on those who would do it for her. Her Queen gave her power. Her Queen gave her the opportunity to rule forever. She'd lost everything in her foolishness, but when her Queen returned, power over her life instantly shifted from Toadsworth back to her. In order not to lose this newfound freedom, she could not dare disobey her Queen again.

But Mario might still see otherwise…

 _Mario._

A pang of regret crossed her heart. Almost immediately, two demonic hands squeezed her shoulders, taking it away. Of course, all Mario saw was the demon. It was a misunderstanding; he didn't see the opportunity to rule beside his beloved Peach. He didn't see she _wanted_ this, especially since she was foolish enough to give him the strength to fight her. Next time would be different.

The hands remained clutching her shoulders, dragging her further downward, providing her comfort but also signaling her ownership of the body they held. She lay completely down now, the hands grasping every part of her body. Two more rose from the darkness below to support her back.

Peach stood up and continued changing the room to suit her tastes, adding writhing hands in the walls that would grab anyone foolish enough to wander too close, and one by one each torch flickered out, relighting with an eerie purple glow.

Several Toads finally gathered the courage to step inside.

" _Peach?"_

At last! Her _servants_ had arrived. Her chance to prove she was to be taken seriously as a Queen. To be the controller and not the controlled.

The Toads gazed with dread creeping onto their faces. Only her face resembled Peach's. As for everything else… her deathly pale skin, her dark purple dress, the collar rising past her head, her creepy scepter, and most of all, the _malice_ in her eyes, which they swore they'd never seen before… it was a wonder they recognized this woman as Peach at all.

"You are my faithful servants, yesssss? I will not harm you." Peach spoke the words the Queen put into her mouth.

The Toad in front pondered this. He'd never considered himself a _servant_ of Peach, though it made sense to him. But now… was different. Though he knew the voice to be Peach's, this wasn't at all the Peach he knew.

"And what happens… if we say no?"

"Then… you will _perish_." The word felt oddly satisfying leaving her lips, a pleasure she had never known before. She faltered when raising her arm.

 ** _Obey me, girl…_**

Peach complied, extending her hand and summoning demonic hands to grab the Toads' legs, adding some extra… _persuasion_ , she concluded.

"Umm… yes…" he replied, hoping she would somehow revert to normal and sincerely wishing not to die.

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, her cruel smirk hiding the joy she experienced in this new method of dealing with her _servants_.

"Yesssss… you are obedient… Good, my pets… Now you are mine… You will serve me for eternity!"

Why hadn't she realized it before? She didn't just want control of her own life. The idea of ruling the world under an eternal darkness truly _appealed_ to her. All it took to open her eyes was to be liberated from her role as Princess. And so, she would proclaim herself Queen.

"Shadow Queen Peach shall rule forever!" she exclaimed before letting out a triumphant cackle that echoed throughout the entire palace. "Now bow before your queen."

The Shadow Queen would have loved to revel in her success, but there was one last thing still on her mind.

 ** _When you fought Mario…what happened?_**

The Crystal Stars. Those wretched stars had broken the power of her invincible demon form, leaving her vulnerable. And such a thing could happen again. But Mario could be persuaded to hand them over, and rule by her side. She could finish up remodeling this kingdom later.

The Queen wasn't lying. They would get some of the Toads to help. Peach stormed out of her palace to do what she came for, her trail of darkness withering the flowers she passed by.

 _He won, and everything returned to the way it was._

She remembered lying on the floor, her new power dissipating around her. She felt awful. Of course she persuaded herself that awful feeling came from being possessed and that it would go away. It did, because she repressed it. But upon the Shadow Queen's defeat, Peach felt a part of her had been torn away. It made her feel empty. She repressed a part of her that found bliss in her time as a vessel, but she no longer had to. Her true self.

Just then, two Koopas passed by, approaching her.

"Hey, you think she's sick with some weird disease or something? Will King Bowser still reward us if we bring her like _that_?"

This only confirmed her thoughts. She certainly had far too _welcoming_ a kingdom, if anyone could walk in seeking to kidnap her like that. How bold they were. Clearly she wasn't feared enough.

Her glowing red eyes signaled two dark thunderbolts hitting their marks, leaving two shells on the ground.

Two more thunderbolts made them disappear, never to be seen again.

She felt a wonderful feeling, but it disappeared almost instantly. She needed to assert her dominance over the land more. Much, much more. After all, her kingdom was tiny and had too many external threats.

Peach surrendered herself to the demon who she knew could do it much better than she could. She relaxed herself, allowing her Queen to manipulate her limbs, similarly to when she was first a vessel deep in the Palace of Shadow. She was being given a second chance; how could she make the same mistake again?

She had defied her Queen, using her power against her and resisting the way she moved her body. Now she would use her power to help her Queen wipe out all who stand in her way. Together they would be ten, no, a hundred times stronger than before, with her new power and her solidarity with the one empowering her.

The demon remembered her vessel's wish from earlier, that she wouldn't slay Mario.

 ** _Of course that won't happen,_** she reassured her. **_Provided he is wise enough to accept his place alongside you. And if not… why bother with such a fool?_**

Peach nodded before again falling into passivity.


	14. Hope Shattered

Mario and Luigi, upon arriving at Little Fungitown, came face to face with Popple, seeing nobody else around.

"Gimme!" Popple lunged at Mario, who jumped back.

"Where's Jojora?" he asked calmly, ignoring Popple's continuing attempt to grab his bag.

"Gimme the treasure first. Then we'll be giving you your worthless friend, see?"

"I don't have it. Luigi does. He'll bring it out when you give us what we came for."

Popple grimaced. The lunk-heads did something clever for once.

"Fine!" He returned to Ishnail, purposefully heading the wrong direction, then winding back, in case Mario noted the direction he left.

"He wants the stupid kid, see?"

Ishnail's face remained steady, determined.

"And we're goin' to hand her right back? We know who he hangs out with. The terror of Joke's End. The ghost we've captured there. The demon witch queen of Rogueport herself. Maaaaybe we can get him to see sense. But probably not."

"But… we're gonna get the treasure! And everyone will know we're REAL thieves!"

"That's not the plan."

* * *

Mario couldn't imagine what was taking a speedy little guy like Popple so long. Something wasn't right…

…and that something came thundering out of Teehee Valley. He saw a group… no, an _army_ of Koopas, snails, Shy Guys, and too many other things to count, followed by robots easily the height of Little Fungitown's mushroom platforms.

Had they brought all of this just to catch _him_? It seemed like complete overkill. He thought about running, but Little Fungitown just had nowhere _to_ run, save for the Warp Pipe that…

…that was smashed shut. Of course. So he would stand and fight.

Mario managed to stomp a couple Goombas. Those were the easiest to get out of the way, except perhaps those wearing helmets or those with wings. He pulled out a Fire Flower and burned a few of the Chargin' Chucks.

There were just too many of them, though. It didn't help that the Chain Chomps, despite having no strategy but to run headfirst into his fireballs, effectively delivered blow after blow. Mario stood his ground in the face of overwhelming odds, but even he knew when to give up. Besides, he was curious, exactly what was going on here?

He would get his chance to ask when Ishnail tromped over to him.

"Why? Why do this?"

"Do what, exactly?"

"Why kidnap Jojora? And what will you do with me?"

Ishnail narrowed his eyes. "It ain't even you we're after. But havin' you helps a lot."

* * *

Peach floated ahead of her group of Toads when one exclaimed, "Hey! I see Luigi!", her hopes raised that someone could knock some sense into the princess.

Peach's eyes flared red with delight. "Excellent! Mario must not be far off."

Her glee increased immensely upon seeing he was alone with the Crystal Stars.

Luigi turned his head towards the commotion. "Oh, it's you, Peach."

Before he knew it, her dark hands seized all seven Crystal Stars, setting them in front of her.

"The one way to destroy me…" she purred, her gaze a mixture of hatred and joy as she gazed intently at the objects that sealed her fate but now would help her so very, very much.

Peach placed her hand on the Diamond Star, consuming its precious power, giving her body a purple-black glow. When she finished, she left a dull gray star devoid of its sparkle.

She then threw it down, shattered it into little pieces with her lightning, then called down lightning again and again until she blew the pieces into nothingness, ensuring that no one would ever use it again to hurt her magnificent, beloved, glorious Queen.

"What are you _doing_ , Peach?"

She embraced the Ruby Star, intensifying the glow around her body as it delivered her more of that _wonderful_ power before she also fried it into oblivion.

Luigi ran to gather the remaining five stars but the Queen's massive hand stopped him.

The Emerald Star. Mario told her the story one day, of how the Puni elder desired to keep it far away from evil. How _amusing…_ how utterly he had _failed_ in his task, she thought as the darkness within her grew.

The Sapphire Star, held by some sort of pirate skeleton. Oh, she would make _much_ better use of it.

The Gold Star, used by some idiot who kept his power a secret from the world. What a fool.

The Garnet Star, held in some shrine dedicated to the stars. The stars would be no more and she could demolish the pointless place. No, better, one of her servants would do it for her.

And lastly… the Crystal Star. The most powerful, and the most delightful for her to drain dry, the lifeless shell giving her the most satisfaction. She smirked as she destroyed the final Crystal Star.

Luigi finally squirmed out of her hand's grasp but he was too late. The Crystal Stars were no more.

The Gold Star bestowed Power Lift, an ability that increased the strength of attacks and shielded from harm. She already had that ability, but the Star enhanced it nicely.

Showstopper, granted by the Garnet Star, would serve nicely to instantly rid her of weaklings who stood in her way, she thought as she summoned black voids in front of her, hands emerging from them before they disappeared.

The most powerful of the Crystal Stars gave her Supernova. Black stars tore up the space in front of her, shaking the ground with more and more intensity until it all shattered in what would be an extremely painful spectacle for anyone unfortunate enough to be inside.

She couldn't contain her delight. It broke out into a booming cackle laced with twisted joy. "Muh huh huh huh huh!"

 _This time I'll do it right,_ she thought as she turned the sky everywhere pitch black. The world roared and shook. She repeated the darkness she unleashed when she first had the… _honor_ of being vessel to her Queen.

Peach admired the darkened sky, a symbol of the endless time of darkness in which she reigned. Luigi interrupted her admiration.

"You…"

 _Oh, I nearly forgot._

The Queen's demon form wrapped around the girl's body as both spirit and vessel spoke at the same time.

 ** _"You are less useless than you appear."_**

She saw him fight earlier. He might prove useful as a servant.

Peach's body spoke the same words as in the Palace of Shadow, her mind making sense of them now.

 ** _"Will you serve me?"_**

Of course he would accept. She was offering him the chance to serve his ruler as he should.

"No! Never! Peach, I knew this was a mistake… after we get Mario you will get rid of her! Immediately! I won't – OW!" he exclaimed as lightning struck him on the back.

 ** _"You would do well to learn your proper place, slave. No one commands me."_**

She filled with indignant rage. How dare he command her to expel her Queen!

He ran towards Peach with his hammer, swinging and stomping. Peach looked on with an expression of amusement.

 ** _"Muh huh huh huh huh huh! Is that your idea of an attack? Foolish…"_**

Really, she thought he would stop once he saw he couldn't harm her at all. Funny that just now he was in possession of the only possible way to change that…

Luigi stopped, standing in front of the Queen.

"I will ask you again… will you serve me? If so, I will forgive you for this…"

Perhaps now that he'd seen how pointless defying her was, he would accept the second chance she so mercifully extended to him.

Luigi's face fell as he heard Peach's voice speaking those horrifying words. No, this had to be a trick…

"No! I won't! Not in a million years!"

"I see… so you defy me… How… amusing…"

He'd seen defying her would lead nowhere, and he persisted on doing it anyway. How… amusing. It really was a silly idea. A foolish idea…

 ** _"You are foolish to oppose me. Yesss… and that foolishness… will have to be punished…"_**

She could throw him into the dungeon with Bonetail once she built it, seeing as how impossible persuading him was, but that might dash her hopes of Mario accepting her offer. She wanted to assure him his brother would still be all right…

Luigi failed to react to the massive hand snatching him.

The Sapphire Star's ability was Sweet Feast. Luigi screamed in pain as Peach summoned hands that held themselves out in eagerness to claim a piece of his life force. Peach's Sweet Feast rejuvenated her, taking away the slight pain she felt in her shoulder and sending a wonderful feeling through her body. When the hands came to her, she stroked them as they reached towards her before disappearing into the shadows again.

Her demon form weaved her fingers around Peach's form, the swirling body disappearing as the Queen clothed herself in her new face once again.

Peach was assured she would indeed reign forever. Her beautiful young body would never age as long as her Queen inhabited it.

Mario was obviously in that unmistakable commotion in the distance.

 _We'll celebrate together the new, eternal age of my reign._


	15. Professor's Legacy

Mario then knew what everyone was so afraid of. The last time this happened, he'd been deep underground. The sky really could turn completely black, without even the stars shining. He might not have believed what everyone told him, but he knew it now to be true.

"Oh, we might as well let the ghost out now, not like it matters," Goose said, acknowledging that she most likely had nothing to do with this.

Melody exited Goose's ghost vacuum, fuming. "What's with all the shaking? And why are you looking at the sky like you've never seen- oh. What, did the moon disappear or something? All right, _fine_ , you can't see a single thing in the sky. What's the big deal?"

She heard Mario's voice. "I have to save Peach…"

"Oh, did she get kidnapped _again_? Isn't one kidnapping enough for right now?"

"Do you remember the demon in her? Well, she's trying to conquer the world…"

"…uhh, I could've told you that, ragamuffin."

* * *

Peach gracefully floated to face the crowd, enclosed snugly within the swirling demon enveloping her.

 ** _"Ahh, quite the welcoming reception for me. Bow before your queen."_**

Many of them visibly shook. This wasn't in the deal.

Ishnail ordered them to stand their ground, but with every attack harmlessly bouncing off the Queen while she pummeled them with several Supernovas, the ones fortunate enough to survive simply decided no amount of money was worth facing this terrifying creature.

 ** _"I shall deal with your impudence later. But for now…"_** She made her way towards Mario.

 ** _"Twice I have given you the opportunity to serve me, and twice you've refused. Consider yourself fortunate I am making this offer… my vessel appears quite fond of you, and certainly you've proven your worth. Will you rule alongside me? If so, I will forgive you for our previous… misunderstanding."_**

Mario stared straight at the one he loved, determination in his eyes.

"No. I will defeat you again, and I will save Peach from you again."

The Queen sneered. **_"Is it Peach you wish to speak to?"_**

Her hands wrapped around Peach's body and disappeared, leaving only her human form.

"I won't need you to save me ever again, Mario," Peach stated. "I ask you again… will you rule alongside me?"

Mario gazed with a horrified expression as he realized it was _Peach_ speaking to him. It was tainted with malice, but it was unmistakably Peach's sweet voice.

"No… no, I…"

"Come now, Mario, don't leave me to rule alone," she said in an almost pleading tone.

"No… you're wrong. I don't know what she's done to you. But I'll save you… even if I have to save you from yourself." Mario threw fireballs at her and smacked her with his hammer, unable to harm her but pressing on anyway.

The fool. She'd asked twice for him to accept the honor of serving her, and he refused. Then in an unthinkable act of generosity for a queen such as herself, she offered him the choice to rule _with_ her and he _still_ refused. She still felt… _merciful_ enough to try again.

"Perhaps I can persuade you." Peach's tone turned saccharine sweet. Her demonic hands pulled Luigi up alongside her. "If you accept, I will not harm your brother."

Mario grimaced, pulling away from the queen. "Never. I will _never_ serve the witch inside you."

 ** _"Very well…"_**

Luigi plunged into the darkness. She waited for Mario to reply.

"Luigi…" Melody whispered. "No…"

"I… I…" Mario stammered.

 ** _"Excellent!"_** the demon exclaimed. Luigi resurfaced. ** _"Finish your sentence…"_**

"I… will –" he was interrupted by Luigi floating past him seemingly on thin air. "- _never_ serve you, witch."

Shock washed over Peach's face, replaced by a burning rage. Mario could barely see the faint outline of Melody Pianissima carrying Luigi far away.

She had been close. Oh, so very close.

Peach was just about to chase them to retrieve Luigi and finish her task when a humongous arm pounded her to the ground.

 ** _"How…? I am invincible…"_**

"Nothin's _invincible_ ," Goose said indifferently. "You just whack it hard enough and it gives." From experience he knew a two-ton electrical arm punched through pretty much any magical doohickey. He was surprised he didn't squash her. In fact, she barely looked hurt.

Peach raised her arms for a Power Lift, then attempted to amass enough hands under another robot to overwhelm it. This failed miserably as her target leapt towards her repeatedly, closing the distance quickly.

 _How fortunate I found the Crystal Stars,_ she thought, unleashing Supernova on her attacker and thankful for her fiendish protection when four cannonballs bounced harmlessly off her. More projectiles flew at her, an assortment of Bullet Bills, Podoboos, and exploding Blue Shells that she effortlessly swatted away.

Mario took this as his chance to escape, but couldn't; Peach's lightning sent him sprawling to the ground. More lightning struck her opponents, visibly burning holes in them.

Garf jumped directly in front of Peach, firing a barrage of weak airship cannons. Despite being an extremely easy target for lightning bolts, he kept firing from the same spot.

 _Pathetic. Can't he see-_

Goose's laser arm hammered her from behind before directly shooting its energy straight into the demon's head. She fell over, burned and suffering from a pounding headache, but still fighting.

 _No way! And I overheated it for that,_ Goose thought.

 ** _"Foooooools!"_** the Queen roared. Peach lifted her arms. Both the Queen and her human body glowed with a multicolored energy.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Goose touched the screen to cool off his robot's left arm.

Peach spread her arms out sideways, her eyes blazing bright red as happened when she cast a particularly powerful spell. The space around her darkened, then brightened when she pulled its darkness in towards her. Peach crackled with electricity flowing through and around her body.

Mario had seen it before, the Shadow Queen gathering energy for a dangerous attack. He stammered weakly… "Look… out…"

She unleashed it in several waves of pure darkness, blasting away all four of her opponents. They struggled to recover. Goose almost tapped his screen repeatedly in frustration before thinking better of it.

They couldn't win.

 _We're too big as targets._

"Break!" he yelled while jumping out of his robot before Peach rendered it immobile. Each of his three companions, Garf, Ishnail and Pierre all retreated in different directions.

Peach fumed. Her head spun. "Which… one?" She couldn't get all four. She'd be lucky to get two.

 _Elvin Gadd, though you are too old to use this… I won't disappoint you._

She chose Ishmael. Luckily for her, he'd tripped, and she'd almost caught up to him when she felt electricity shooting into her back.

 _Who…?_

Goose rocketed sideways. He fired three Bullet Bills that spun in erratic, confusing trajectories before hitting their target, though doing no harm thanks to her dark protection.

Peach motioned for her hands to suck the life out of him, but he teleported behind her. She summoned more hands, but then he appeared to the side of her. He yawned, poking the Queen in the back of the head with his finger.

"Oops, too slow! Try again."

The Queen fumed. He was _taunting_ her. **"Taste my power!"** she snarled, venom lacing her voice. She shot lightning at… the spot Goose had been two seconds ago. She paid no attention to the object he dropped there.

He shot into the air. "I'd like to, but you're just not _quick_ enough." To further aggravate her he shot a blast of energy straight under him that spread and destroyed the many crowds of demonic hands she had summoned.

Wishing to shorten the fight, Peach brought Bonetail to her side, but he could not manage much beside flailing around trying to bite Goose, missing him with his breath attack, and flying headfirst into projectiles because he could not turn easily.

Many more wasted shots and desperate grasps later, and after he shot a silly multicolored explosion that had no particular purpose besides impairing her vision, Goose looked around at the array of objects he had placed.

Each one shot a steady stream of flame burning the Queen at the same time. Sure, her dark magic could shield the pain for a very long while, but even that worked to his advantage because Peach failed to notice she was under any threat until sweat formed on her brow. Goose marveled at the ridiculous amount of heat she withstood but of course she would keep heating up. Peach desperately summoned hands to swat the little flamethrowers but that was too little, too late. The top of her scepter started burning away. The space around her darkened again…

Goose rearranged the flamethrowers, taking advantage of the fact that she was immobile. Peach released her energy, knocking away a measly three of them.

 _What an huge power she has… but it's all she has. I'm fighting the strategy of a stupid teenage princess._ In his opinion, technology always triumphed over magic, though he felt this hardly proved anything when the demon was this _stupid._ She had so many advantages and here he was winning anyway. She was far more resilient, far more powerful, and she had limitless hands and energy while he had limited projectiles, yet she failed to use those advantages in any meaningful way.

 ** _"You do not know what you have done…"_**

Goose couldn't help but snicker. There was so much ridiculous irony in that statement.

 _If she runs, though, I can't do much about it. Crud!_

He moved to cover her escape. Peach backed away from the flames, straight into his trap of electric gates, which managed to shock her. She retreated further, assessing the field.

Goose frowned. Defeating an enemy like this was doable, but required him to fight near-perfectly. And he hadn't fought near-perfectly. His first mistake: his flamethrower placement had been optimal for avoiding her attack, but left nowhere near enough areas too dangerous for her to maneuver through. His second mistake: he left enough bombs to cover the area below him but not the area around him.

The Queen's hands moved above him, her smaller ones appearing below him, draining his life energy.

Goose sighed, collecting everything he dropped on the battlefield. He realized today would not be his.

Peach struck him with lightning several times, the cost of him collecting his belongings. She squeezed him in her demonic grasp.

"You would make yourself quite useful as a slave… will you serve me? If so, I will forgive you for this…"

"Not feeling it today, sorry," Goose replied, vanishing.

* * *

 _It certainly could have gone better,_ Peach thought. But she had won. She secured her reign as Queen under this wonderful darkness.

 ** _"Yesss… Yessssssss… I shall rule for all eternity! Muh huh huh huh huh!"_**

She fried Goose's robot and Ishnail's robot, since they lay there and she didn't want them bothering her again, then returned to Mario.

"Mario, I will not ask you again… will you take your place as King beside me? The world will bow before us."

There was something strangely… _alluring_ about this possessed Peach. But he couldn't bring himself to betray his friends.

"…My answer is the same. No matter how many times you ask, _no_!"

Peach fumed. If he wanted it that way, well, then, he was of no use to her. Her hand raised slightly. The time when she would defy her Queen's will had long passed.

Mario sank into the darkness. Peach touched a gloved hand to his head sticking out the top, removing his cap. She grinned, watching the hands hold him down, cackling in delight when they stopped altogether. Now she held in her hand all that remained of him.

She would rule _alone,_ she thought, floating back to her palace.

Peach was _hurt_. Her thoughts turned to the Toads she left behind who defied her. Since she hadn't finished her dungeon, she'd thrown them into a deep pit, where they still were.

Her hands sucked up their souls, completely healing her. Loyal, soulless Toads arose in their place, with voids where their eyes should have been. Their screams of horror and hopelessness were just a bonus, she thought, heading back to finish remaking the palace that so sickened her.


	16. Bowser's Castle

A/N: Sorry about letting this sit around for forever, and if it sucks.

* * *

Peach's palace remained mostly unchanged, except for the color, so she began her work. Firstly, its front displayed her previous sweet face, which she replaced with an image of her glare that made every Toad shiver.

 _Now for the dungeon. Prisoners are such a bother, so most of them can feed Bonetail. But it's best to leave some alive, to tell everyone else not to defy me._

She finally settled on recreating the Pit of 100 Trials.

 ** _Yesssss… my army rises again after a thousand years!_**

With several waves of her hand, Peach created Dark Bones, Dry Bones, Dark Wizzerds, and even Shadow Sirens to aid in her conquest.

 _All will bow to the Shadow Queen._

Her army overran the surrounding villages, in which everyone was either killed or enslaved. Liliana watched from a balcony.

 ** _Excellent! I am most satisfied with your obedience._**

 _I'm honored, my queen._

 ** _I shall reward my loyal vessel. A certain Koopa often enters your thoughts… and you desire to pay him a visit, yesssss?_**

 _That would be lovely! Would you do that? For me?_

 ** _Certainly._**

* * *

After some negotiation, Rosalina had finally gathered herself her Power Star. Gobblegut barely fit in the back of her ship.

She stopped on a nice, sandy beach.

"Yoshi? Yoshi yoshi, yoshi yoshi yoshi, yoshi. Yoshi!"

"What's he saying?" Gobblegut wondered aloud.

"He's saying you can have them, that he hates them anyway, and that he doesn't know why Mario fed them to him since they always made his mouth burn."

"Great!", Gobblegut exclaimed, popping a few into his mouth.

Rosalina sped away, intent on warning the Mushroom Kingdom of its impending disaster, but oblivious to what had already taken place.

"Yoshi, yoshi."

"Uhh, I don't speak yoshi."

"Yoshi. Yoshi. Yo-o-o- _shi._ "

 _Huh, he seems persistent._

The dragon muscled through to get to a plump, juicy blue fruit. Almost instantly his head swelled up like a balloon and rose. Fortunately for him, the effects were only temporary.

"Yoshi yoshi."

Gobblegut sighed.

 _That probably means "I told you so"._

* * *

One particular Goomba keeping watch paced back and forth on Bowser's castle's wall.

 _A darkening sky, fast approaching. Great! Now I don't have to do this for another three hours._

She was just about to leave when she ran into her supervisor, a burly Koopa.

"Hey! Aren't we taking cover?"

"It's not a tornado, it's the sky turning dark. It happens, ya know, once every day, dum-dum."

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" came a scream from the neighboring watchtower.

"Or, uh, maybe not."

Their tower's assigned captains were a Fire Bro and a Hammer Bro.

"Bro, are you sure anything even happened? Remember when they were just playing shellball, and it fell off the tower, and everyone screamed like, 'EMERGENCY!'"

"Bro, this better not be a late April Foos Day joke," the Fire Bro replied, half expecting a Foo to blow in his face when he opened the door.

"Uhh, bro, we have… a problem. Whoever those guys are, they're really gonna wallop us."

"Bro, no kiddin', they're really putting on the heat."

* * *

"Hey! I was JUST going to attack! Is it Fawful or something? And with that tacky dark sky, too! I mean, COME ON! Whose lame idea was that, anyway? I mean, Fawful did it once, it happened once for some weird reason, and also, uhh, it happened when the giant sword fell from the sky. I had Cataquack-themed airships, too! And that awesome plan to run Chain Chomps everywhere without the chains! And-"

"Uhh, actually, maybe that wasn't such a good idea, Lord Bowser. It's hard to make them go where you want them to-"

"But then some wacko has to ruin it with a lame idea like that! And now I have to go over and steal Peach from _them_!"

Kammy spoke up. "Your Viciousness, it's probably not Fawful. Do you see a single thing out there with his face on it?"

"I don't care who it is, I'm gonna kidnap Peach again, as soon as I find her in wherever she- GAAAH!"

Both Bros burst in. "We're under attack, Lord Bowser! And you'll have a real easy time finding Peach! She's waaaaay in the front. That army's practically giving her away!"

"Oh, maybe this is like that Bleck guy who got me to marry Peach and dumped me in a plain. I'm too smart for that! We're taking her, then we blow this army to bits! Har!"

After being slightly confused by their ruler's uncharacteristic thinking-before-acting, the Bros went up their tower to watch the gate. Peach blew it open with a powerful blast of dark magic, then broke it into pieces with lightning.

"Bro… you thinking with I'm thinking?"

"We keep our distance from that, bro?"

"Exactly, bro."

Bowser watched helplessly as Peach's army overwhelmed his own. Four Dead Hands held him firmly in their grasp.

 _May I?_

 ** _Certainly._**

She struck Bowser with lightning.

 _It feels so good to hear him scream like that. So good, in fact, I should bring him back with me._

"This is my kingdom now, and you will all serve me, or perish."

Some of Bowser's minions stepped forward to accept, while the two Bros retreated. They couldn't whack Dry Bones into the lava fast enough.

"Bro, what do you think? We go hide?"

"Of course, bro. You remember last time?"

"You mean Fawful, bro?"

"Exactly. We joined up, since it sounded like a great deal. Taking it easy. He didn't give anyone much work at all. But we all had to come to his stupid shows. And there was just nothing to do. Plus, he made even King Bowser look like he had a small ego."

"So you think it's the same thing?"

"Peach, or whoever this is, you can tell, right? If we go work for her, we're gonna have _no_ fun whatsoever. Bowser will get his castle back anyhow, and this time, we'll be the ones who stuck by him. For now, just burn up as many of these things as possible."

"Good plan, bro."

* * *

Melody woke up to find Professor E. Gadd looking down at Luigi. She'd laid him beside her, next to a tree. Startled, she bumped her head into a branch.

 _Ouch! Dear me, I should look before I get up. I can't believe I bumped my head into a branch._

 _Wait._

 _I bumped my head into a branch? I can't believe I bumped my head into a branch! What kind of tree is this?_

She reached out to touch the tree.

 _Wait. My fingers… are not… blue?_

Luigi woke up. "Melody?"

"What happened? I can… walk on the ground?"

"This is my solar-powered Ghost Reversificator! And it works! All I need to do is wait for the sun to recharge it…"

E. Gadd looked at the sky.

"…well, err, um… as soon as we get any sunlight, that is! Maybe I can find something else to power it?"

"Ugh… What happened? Are you all right… ragamuffin?"

Luigi still stared wide-eyed at the girl facing him.

"It's not polite to stare, you know! And should we do about Peach?"

"Well, hate to say this, but I don't know what you can do, unless you carry a piano everywhere."

The professor interrupted. "Actually, about that… I made this out of some Amazy Dayzee parts Mario keeps sending me. They are supposed to be valuable, but almost nobody has the coins to buy them! It uses the power of vibrations, and basically, the better the flow of the song you put into it, the more power goes in. I got way ahead of myself, though, since I'm not good with music at all! I thought you could use it."

Melody pushed some virtual piano keys. "So if I play, for example, this song in C-sharp…"

"Careful! You set it to…"

A projectile emerged, cutting through the tree and sending all three scrambling for cover.

"That was sharp, all right." Luigi joked.

"Up here you can select your weapon."

"Did you bother to name this thing?"

"It was a while ago. Uhh… Oh! It was the Harmonizer."

"Look out, world." She smirked, climbing atop the fallen tree, then brandishing her weapon. "Here comes Melody Pianissima."


	17. Star Princess

Rosalina finally landed her ship in some trees near her destination.

 _I knew I would be too late. Looks like Fawful's taken Peach's Castle. Again. And probably converted it into a robot. Again. And the sky is dark, with no moon or stars. Again._

 _But he wouldn't come up with the same plan twice. Would he? Unless he thinks he's foolproofed it this time?_

She shot Star Bits at some Dark Wizzerds, then waved her wand to knock back a Shadow Siren.

 _For Fawful's army, this doesn't quite have enough robots in it. And Mario told me he saw plenty of robots the last time._

 _At least that's one advantage of not having the Observatory. No gigantic announcement that I'm here._

Within hours she snuck to Peach's throne room, defeating the occasional enemy.

 _Of course he would be here. Fawful wouldn't put himself anywhere else. Or at least, the pupil of Cackletta who I remember wouldn't. Hopefully I can catch him by surprise. If enough backup comes this could be over._

Rosalina burst through the door.

"Fawful, your- _Peach?_ Where's Fawful, and what has he done to you? Wait… no…"

 _No robots. Shadow Sirens. Toads muttering something about a witch._

"Liliana." Her eyes narrowed. "Let Peach go."

 ** _"You wish to speak with Peach?"_**

"Oh, but I don't want her to let me go. All this wonderful darkness…" Peach raised some Dead Hands, then stroked them. They stroked her arm affectionately in return. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Why? Why wouldn't you want her to leave you?"

"She gave me freedom from being kidnapped, the opportunity to expand my kingdom, unimaginably great power… and I was foolish enough to _help_ Mario take it away from me. When she struck that awful Grodus, she forced my lips into a smile, but really, it was my smile too. And now I don't need Mario to protect me. I can protect myself."

Rosalina shook her head. "And in your desire to protect yourself from evil you've become worse than anyone who has threatened you, your kingdom more terrible than after any assault it's suffered."

 ** _"So foolish, Rosalina… you could have become a ruler, yet Peach informed me you sat by while this 'Bowser' creature conquered the universe twice."_**

"I prefer to observe, not to interfere. What fun is a universe if everyone does what I tell them to?"

"Rosie, Bowser's in my dungeon, and you'll never have to worry about him again. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some instructions to give to my servants."

"Perhaps I can knock some sense into you after this demon leaves."

Rosalina sprung out her wand, which emitted a drill-like projectile heading straight for Peach's face. She dodged.

"I can't believe it. First Mario, and now you want to take away my power? Is there something appealing to the both of you about me being a damsel in distress?"

Rosalina could create magic barriers, and so knew what would pierce them and what would not. Unfortunately for her, so did the Shadow Queen.

Liliana's scepter shot her own drill projectile at her enemy, who also dodged. She then concentrated on gathering Dead Hands to overwhelm her, forcing her to waste additional energy flying.

Rosalina caught on and did the same with miniature stars. They traded blows in the air.

 _Not good. I don't have the upper hand._

Liliana calmly assessed her options. Standing still to Power Lift would be suicide. Supernova was too slow to accomplish anything here.

Peach did nothing, but fumed at how long this was taking.

 ** _Patience. Rosalina is a difficult opponent._**

Some Dark Wizzerds entered and shot at Rosalina. She shot beams of light to stop them from becoming too numerous, but this left her enemy less worried about dodging and more able to target her. She took first the Queen's hand to her face, then lightning, then a Wizzerd shot.

 _I can't… not much longer…_

Gloomtail burst in. His poison breath knocked Rosalina to the ground.

"Excellent, my lovely pet!"

 _I've failed._

Liliana gazed at Rosalina, holding Peach's hand to her chin.

 ** _I never dreamed this possibility would present myself. A chance to become the queen she would not._**

 _You would leave my body?_

 ** _Stand still._**

 _Very well. As your vessel and servant, I obey your every command._

Rosalina hung her head. The two dark hands hovered over her, then rested on her shoulders.

 ** _"I feel… the power within this body…"_** Rosalina's mouth moved, but it was the Queen's voice.

Peach felt a strange sensation, again having full control of her limbs. Her appearance hadn't changed a bit.

"I still feel darkness in me." She was confused.

She summoned some hands to ensure she could do it without the aid of her Queen, and they sprung up as naturally as ever.

 ** _"I left some of my power within you. Did you believe I would abandon you, after such loyal service? This is your reward."_**

"I am not worthy, my Queen." Peach bowed before Rosalina's new form.

Rosalina's crown wrapped around her forehead, studded with rubies. Her blue gown turned dark purple and black to match Peach's, ending in a spiked pattern at the top, the blue frills on it now blood red. She also wore a long purple cape ending in spikes and a collar like Peach's. Rosalina's host completely drained her skin of its color. Her waist-length hair still obscured one eye, gleaming red through it.

 ** _"Now every being in the universe shall bow to the Shadow Queen. Muh huh huh huh huh!"_**

Liliana stepped outside.

 ** _"Where could the Observatory be? Observation, indeed. How pathetic."_**

Then, she spotted it, hurtling down from the sky.

* * *

Fawful couldn't stand how slow this thing was. Sure, it was big and powerful, but Rosalina probably found some way back by now.

"The Mushroom Kingdom is belonging to Fawful!"

He zoomed in to see.

"Huh? S-something much unexpected has happened! Perhaps Bowser has done the destroying of it?"

On closer inspection, Fawful saw Toads chained, mining rocks.

"Where is the fun? Where is the chortles? It is like Bowser has had the Vacuum Shroom and done the sucking of the fun out of the Mushroom Kingdom! Fawful must be fixing this quickly!"

He set a course straight for Peach's Castle.

* * *

The Fire Bro and Hammer Bro looked through their spyglass.

"Bros, she went to Peach's castle. Let's go! We're waaaaay smarter than these idiots," the Fire Bro exclaimed, mocking the Dry Bones' slow walk back and forth.

Some more Fire Bros, Hammer Bros, and also Ice Bros, Boomerang Bros, Sledge Bros, and an Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bro raised their fists in agreement. Before they could leave, the Hammer Bro spoke again.

"Actually, bros, by 'let's go', I mean let's go downstairs."

"Oh, right, supplies and stuff." They all followed.

Shadow Sirens all around noticed them, but waited, having little desire to stop a rampaging horde of enemies from trapping themselves belowground.

Minutes later, Bowser's entire castle lifted itself into the sky.

"Bro, you don't work for the maniac who converted this thing into a flying machine without noticing where he did it from, do you?"

* * *

Luigi watched Melody fire Note Blocks at zombie Toads, which bounced into other zombie Toads, which bounced into other zombie Toads. When they all arose again, she blew Rainbow Notes into them, knocking them out for good, seconds before Luigi's fireball reached them.

"Well, uhh, that's the third fight we had where I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, who knew having Luigi around isn't that useful?" Melody grinned. Luigi swung his hammer inches away from her face. "Relax! I was only- oh." She saw a Dry Bones collapse, an arm stretched out to grab her instead harmlessly brushing against her shoulder. "Eww. Oh, thanks."

"Not that far to go. Maybe twelve hours? Or, maybe two."

Melody raised an eyebrow. "Not very precise, are you?"

"No, twelve if we run, two if we take that." He motioned to a crumpled mass of the defeated robots flying towards them. As it approached, Goose waved at them.

She shrugged. "Honestly, nothing can really surprise me at this point. Not even that." Melody motioned to the Comet Observatory seemingly on a crash course for Peach's castle.

* * *

 ** _"Once that is ours, we rule the universe."_**

"We?"

 ** _"I admit, one thousand years ago, ruling alone became lonely. I desire a second-in-command."_**

Peach knelt.

 ** _"Mastering this body will require time. I am most unfamiliar with it…"_**

"There isn't much time. Fortunately, you can get exactly what you want."

 ** _"I concur."_**

 _I don't,_ Rosalina thought.

 ** _Your opinion matters not._**


	18. Everything Flies

Fawful halted.

"Now Mushroom Kingdom is in the range of firing. In five minutes, it is having the name Mushroom Farm! And who steals Fawful's idea of the taking over of Peach's Castle? It is lacking any originalness! It stinks of sad, like a deflated balloon that has lost its ballooniness!"

He motioned for his drones to move towards the castle, then prepared to fire.

"And what interrupts Fawful's evil? Always, there are fink-rats…"

Two shapes moved closer, coming into view.

"It is the girl of stupidity, coming to lecture to Fawful about foolishness!"

He shot the main laser, switched the artificial gravity, and fired a miniature black hole. Still they came.

"Ah, it is holograms… No! Wait! This cannot be having the holograms! The radar has detecting of them!"

He exhausted half the supply of missiles. Still they came.

He shielded the Observatory and rammed its top into them. They burst through and landed next to him.

"How-h-h-how has this possibility? You are not having even the scratches! Not even the burning hair!"

 ** _"With Rosalina's power, no one can harm me."_** Liliana grinned sardonically, showing off Rosalina's teeth.

Peach replied. "I'm here to make you an offer. You once served a witch, am I right?"

"Y-y-yes. Fawful once was the Great Cackletta's most best pupil…"

 ** _"If you will become my eternal servant, I will not harm you."_**

"Are you having the chortles?"

 ** _"Laughing? Why do you inquire of such foolishness?"_**

"No… no chortles? Life without chortles? It is like the tomato without the redness! The coins without the shiny!"

Fawful pushed a button, dropping under the floor. Within a second, he flew off in a small escape pod, heading straight for Peach's Castle.

 ** _"Leave him. We have no use for him."_**

"He might be preparing an attack. Who knows what he left lying around here."

 ** _"That fool poses no threat to us."_**

"I wouldn't be too sure, my Queen…"

If there was one thing a thousand-year-old demon queen was not good at, it was operating fancy electronic devices. She selected a random weapon, shot the main laser at Fawful, and missed by approximately a mile.

 ** _"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"_**

* * *

Fawful knew Peach's Castle had been remodeled, but he didn't know it had been remodeled twice. He was counting on the drones he wouldn't have sent down if he knew two surprisingly resilient princesses of darkness wanted to hijack his spacecraft.

This witch really couldn't appreciate the chortles like Cackletta did.

All those Toads mindlessly scrubbing the floors or whacking away at rocks. Not having the chortles.

All those dungeon floors filled with blood and terror. Fawful had built a theater when he took Bowser's castle.

All those boring hands on the wall, and they weren't even for tickling purposes.

Sometimes life has easiness, like boiling a pot of soup. And sometimes three dragons appear in the castle that Fawful is having the transforming of into a robot, like maggots in the soup that is the victory of Fawful.

Hooktail and Gloomtail started off with their breath attacks, each realizing their mistake when they received mouthfuls of bombs from Fawful.

"Ugh… maybe not snack time?"

They were in no shape to fight after that. Fawful then managed to get into Bonetail, who clumsily banged into the wall trying to shake Fawful off. He fired his Headgear repeatedly, each time shooting straight from the inside of Bonetail, killing him quickly.

"Fawful is having the headache…" He finally shook it off, getting the castle running. Literally.

* * *

Luigi was surprised to find three flying objects, when he didn't expect to find any.

"The Comet Observatory? It's so hard to see in this darkness… uhh… Peach is on it. What is that doing here? Wait. That's Rosalina. The Shadow Queen's got Rosalina? Could this get any worse? I guess we have no choice but to take that thing down. But that castle probably has Fawful in it. It's probably not good if he wins. And that's… Bowser's Castle. Not good if they win either."

Melody shook her head. "Why does everything have to be so complicated? Whenever I played a Mario game, Bowser kidnaps the princess, you rescue her, and that was it. Uggggggh. And who's Rosalina, anyway?"

"That one." Luigi pointed. "She helped us defeat Bowser. Also, she's very powerful. And that's a big problem right about now."

They were just in time to see Bowser's Castle fire a giant iron ball at Peach's Castle, which jumped aside, put it into a cannon, and fired it at the Observatory, blowing off its top.

"Hey, maybe it's not so complicated. We can wait for them to wreck each other! Does anyone have popcorn? I'll go look- LOOK OUT!"

"Yeah, Fawful isn't gonna let us do that." Luigi grimaced.

* * *

"Bro! The princess, or whoever that is, is on the spaceship thingy. Let's wreck that instead."

They fired another iron ball. This time, an enormous hand swatted it back.

"Uhh…uhh…it was this one, right? This lever?"

Just before the ball could strike Bowser's Castle, it pulled out a mechanical hand that threw the ball back.

"Just in time, bro. Say! That looks like Green Stache up there? What was his name again?"

* * *

Fortunately for Goose, two of his opponents were engaged in a deadly game of catch. Unfortunately, Fawful was not.

"It's too late to turn back." He started punching drones, but there were just too many of them.

"Uhh… I thought we were aiming at that thing?"

"Yeah, good idea."

Goose fired a heat beam at the Observatory.

* * *

"We should probably move."

 ** _"Do I look like I can fly Rosalina's contraption?"_**

"Hey, I was stuck in a castle the whole time Mario was on this. I have no idea either."

 ** _"Forget this. I will devise another method for asserting my rule over the universe that is rightfully mine."_**

"Yeah, the ship doesn't help much, does it? Forget this. We can defeat our enemies without it."

Liliana and Peach flew off.

"Whoops. I left the acceleration on."

* * *

"Goose, the Observatory is coming right at us."

"Well, Luigi, I would expect so! My sensors still indicate it is taking the beam straight on! At this rate, it should begin to melt!"

"No, I mean, it is coming _right at us_."

"Say what?" Goose looked out the window. "Move left. LEFT!"

The Observatory tore through the right side of Goose's aircraft. They were sent crashing into a forest.

* * *

"Keep firing! We got this!"

Bowser's Castle continued firing at Fawful. Unable to take any more, his castle staggered and fell on its side, unable to get up.

"We win! We WIN! We-"

"-need to get away from that sucky thing, bro."

"The castle can't get away. Everyone JUMP!"

Bowser's castle fell into a black hole and crumbled.

"That _sucks_ , bro."

"Shut up."

"King Bowser is gonna be pissed."

* * *

"Well, Luigi, I guess we're back to running. Twelve hours, you said?"

"Nah, we can't wait that long," Goose said. "Hold on, some of these parts still work."

He managed to build a vehicle, which though it had trees to navigate around, was still better than walking.

"So about the whole Peach thing… what's with the demon thing?"

"Uh… when we were traveling with her, you didn't ask?"

"We weren't fighting her then, and when you hang out in a place with King Boo and whatever weird things Van Gore is drawing up, that kinda stuff slips by you, you know?"

"Well, Mario told me one day in a place called the Palace of Shadow, someone named Grodus brought Peach all the way down to the bottom where there was this demon called the Shadow Queen. He brought Peach as a body for her to possess."

"That sounds awful! So what happened?"

"Well, Mario beat her up. You know my bro, he always knocks out the bad guy!"

"But she was in Peach? He was beating up Peach?"

"Oh, Peach was fine, apparently. Don't ask me how that works."

"And we have to go save Peach again?"

"Well, it's weird. Peach is actually buddies with her now. She wanted her body taken over. Or something like that. I thought it was fine, but then… this happened. I had the feeling this was bad, but I was too scared to do anything about it."

"That's sad. Even her? I guess everyone's got a dark side."

"Yeah, Mario said she was scary. I didn't believe Peach could be scary. But she is."

"We can take her."

"Now I have a new traveling companion, I guess."

"Hey, at least I'm not scary anymore, right? I don't do crazy things like summon hands out of the darkness, or-"

One of Fawful's drones zoomed next to them, attempting to drill their engine. Melody pulled out her weapon.

"this song from Super Mario Galaxy should do-"

She whacked it, sending it flying far enough into the sky Luigi could barely see it.

"-so what was I saying? Right. I don't do crazy things like that, so at least you don't have to be scared of me."

"Right."

* * *

After barely two hours, they spotted a Fire Bro. It was fighting one of Fawful's drones, and both were fighting a Shadow Siren.

"Well, looks like we're getting closer, Luigi." Melody nudged.

More combatants arrived. Luigi, Melody, and Goose had just charged into the melee to thin out their enemies' armies, when Fawful appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Why, don't we have all the luck today."

"I have fury! The mustaches show up. Always in Fawful's way…"

* * *

The Fire Bro and Hammer Bro spotted Peach in the distance.

"I guess this is it. I can't believe this is the same annoying princess who's in the dungeons half the time. I don't get it. We already have Kammy, why does King Bowser always wanna double the amount of whining and gossip?"

 ** _"Ahhh… Bowser's minions. Seeing as how our first meeting could have ended on a more pleasant note, being the gracious queen I am… I will give you another chance to serve me."_**

Peach smirked in approval at gaining control over her former captor's subjects.

"Nice try. Someone already broke into our castle and told us to work for him. You know what? He was only trying to steal some stupid thing from under the Mushroom Kingdom. Never cared about anyone but himself. And you, lady? You want us to suck up to you too, so we can spend another month apologizing to King Bowser when you're gone? NO WAY! Isn't that right, bros?"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Peach's face erupted in anger.

"All about me? How _dare_ you. I'm doing what's best for my kingdom. As a weak ruler, you'll just kidnap me again, and terrorize all my subjects. I'll have to put you in your proper place, slave."

The princess and her queen scattered their foes with several lightning bolts. Fireballs, ice balls, hammers, and boomerangs all bounced harmlessly off them. Then they summoned Dead Hands among the crowd.

They made their point. Everyone panicked and fled.

 _Of all my enemies they are the least important right now._

* * *

"Always the mustaches are having such annoyance!"

Melody looked around. "I count one mustache. Umm, last I checked, I don't have one. Anyone else? Is it you?"

"I have no mustache. I have chortles! Fawful hates your faces, mustaches or not!"

Fawful instructed his drones to fire. Melody's weapon not only threw up a shield, but sent the blasts right back, knocking out some of the drones.

 _Fawful could be breaking the shield. But much battle and losing of robots would be much disaster for the army that is Fawful's._

He fled. "You fink-rats are not having the importantness to Fawful!"

"Well, that was easy. But how do we beat her?" Luigi shuddered. "If she's got Rosalina… that evil magic flowing through her body right now… it's gonna be terrifying."

E. Gadd leapt out of his chair in the vehicle. "Wait! Through her body? I've got it!"

"Wait!" Goose called. "I'll go after him, you go on! Wait! Where are you going?"

He chased after Gadd's flying scooter. This left his companions without any means of fast transportation, so they ran.

"It's been, well, a _long_ time since I've been able to run. If we weren't looking for a witch, maybe I could enjoy this."

"Yeah… well… running… isn't… all… that… great…" Luigi panted.

"She's probably looking for us. Now, where would I look for us?"

"In this forest where we landed? No, near the edge. She probably thinks she's all-powerful and whatever, and that we'd be trying to escape. So keep going, and we find her."

"Hello, Luigi." Peach waved. "And you? Weren't you a ghost?"

"Now what's the plan?"

"Uhh… run?"

"Luigi? Are you serious?"

Peach called a lightning strike, which Melody blocked. Liliana assisted her. They ignored Melody's Rainbow Note counterattack.

"Not bad. I suppose you'd make an excellent servant. Tell me, would you become my servant? If so, I will forgive you for this."

Melody responded with a Magic Note Block, which instead of catapulting Peach, bounced harmlessly off her.

"So you reject my offer. Very well, then you will perish. A shame, really. I was wrong about you. You're pathetic."

 _My shield's about to break._

"Luigi?"

Luigi was currently being restrained by Dead Hands.

 ** _"You believe he will save you? I do not understand mortals… Enough!"_**

Peach saw her dress revert to pink and felt the darkness leave her.

 ** _"Do not fear. For this I require all my power. To annihilate these vermin where they stand!"_**

 _And so the cycle of life continues._

 ** _Shut up! I am destined to escape that cycle! I shall rule forever!_**

 _Really… Even I've accepted my place within it._

* * *

E. Gadd stood on the Observatory's ruins.

"There! I connect the Ghost Reversificator there, and… done!"

Goose caught up to him. "Hold on! That thing… that's way too much power!"

"That is PRECISELY the point, my boy! Now where could she be…"

"That lightning might help you a bit. Oh, and that dark sphere ejecting light from it, too."

"Ah! There! Now right at the center…"

The Observatory shot a beam into the distance.

* * *

Melody braced herself.

"Luigi, there's no way I can hold this."

She didn't have to. The beam connected with its target.

Standing before Luigi and Melody were three people.

A princess, dressed in pink, looking confused.

A woman dead long ago, as fresh as the day her body was destroyed.

A space traveler, wearing the dark purple gown she did not choose.

One turned to another. "Liliana. It's you."

 ** _"My- my body? What is this? Rosalina. This changes nothing. You will die."_** She tried to summon Dead Hands.

None arose to answer her call.

She tried gathering darkness around her.

Nothing happened.

 ** _"No- no- how did this happen… what did you do to me…"_**

Rosalina waved her wand. To her horror, almost instantly, Dead Hands swarmed in front of her.

"She's left me. But what is this?"

Liliana and Peach then realized what just happened.

 ** _"My power of darkness, stuck in that… that pathetic star princess?"_**

"Bow! Bow before me!" Peach desperately screamed at Melody. She tried desperately and in vain to gather dark magic at her fingertips.

Melody rolled her eyes. "Who's pathetic now?"

Luigi, free to move again, approached Melody. "Is it over? But Rosalina…"

"Hey, if Rosalina's your friend, you should be all right."

"Rosalina?" He asked timidly.

"Hello, Luigi." She waved. Her eye flashed red and dark lightning struck near him. "I-I didn't mean to do that! Sorry!"

"Well, that's definitely not the Shadow Queen. Say, where _is_ the Shadow Queen?"

"There." Rosalina nudged her head in Liliana's direction.

Luigi watched her attempt to cast spells in vain, and Peach shouting insults at him. "So it's over? We win? We win!"

"So what do we do with these two?" Melody asked.

"I know the Gearmos need people to burn boxes of junk in Upside Dizzy Galaxy," Rosalina answered. "Nobody volunteered for it, because not only do the boxes move up, down, left, and right, but so do the workers. These two would do fine, though."

E. Gadd zoomed onto the scene, noticing Liliana. "It worked! My Ghost Reversificator worked!"

 ** _"Ghost… Reversificator?"_** She looked stunned.

"It reverted her to human form! With her power still in Rosalina!" Goose gasped in realization.

"Exactly, my boy! This old brain's not gone yet, heh heh!"

 ** _"You…YOU did this?"_** She ran towards him, but Melody bounced her away with a Note Block.

Rosalina noticed the shadowy aura surrounding her.

"Oh. Great."

She lifted her hands, sucking darkness out of the sky to her fingertips. Sunlight fell on the ground again.

"Feels nice." Melody stretched out her arms to feel it.

"The Observatory probably won't fly for a while."

"I know. Luckily, I still have that spaceship I built. I can take our guests in that."

* * *

After retrieving her spaceship and gathering her relatively powerless captives, Rosalina deposited them in Upside Dizzy Galaxy.

 ** _"What is this- Agh!"_** She fell sideways.

"New workers, huh? Grab a Fire Flower. You have 60 seconds to burn all those boxes," the monotone of a Gearmo greeted them.

"I'll burn YOU!" Peach hurled fireballs at the Gearmo, which unfortunately for her was made of metal.

"Hey! We don't have time for screwing around! Burn the boxes!"


End file.
